


Invictus

by Fengniao



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dark, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Summaries, Mind Games, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, match made in heaven, no helpless princess in this one, reader is a badass, silver tongue strikes again, they are both liars, who can outsmart who
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-04 09:36:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 46,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13361787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fengniao/pseuds/Fengniao
Summary: Is it possible that there is someone who could rival Loki in all of his cunning nature? Someone who could possibly pose as a rival he never asked for? Princess might have just lost her kingdom to Liesmith himself, but the real battle just begins. Buckle up, this will be a dark story full of mind games and tricks… And I suck at summaries, I´m sorry. Loki x Reader end game.Seldomly, I will use (Y/N) in the story instead of the name of a reader, but I find it a little bit distracting, so it won´t occur very often. Other than that, I will also refrain from a visual description of the main character.





	1. Kingdom fall

A/N

Recommended music: Claire Wyndham - Kingdom fall

* * *

_“Highness, I´m so very sorry, but I have to inform you that our armies have lost the battle.“_

 

_“You mean war general, we just lost the war. What about my brother, the king?“_  I asked, my voice as calm as ever.

 

_“Dead or captured. I must urge you to flee, Liesmith´s forces will be soon upon the palace.“_  General continued.

 

_“I will do no such thing. There rest of you…“_  I looked around at all the lords and military advisors gathered in the throne room  _„… you are all relieved of your duties. You may leave, surrender to the winner or took a stand against him.“_

 

_“But your Highness…“_  The old general tried to continue.

 

_“I´m very well aware of the consequences of my decision, thank you for your counsel, my lord.”_  I cut his speech authoritatively.

 

To stay meant to die… or to be tortured, we lost, after all, that’s what happens to the losing side. There was no point in running away, the only thing that I would be able to take with me is my title and nothing more. And without the money, the power, the land it was just empty words nevertheless. What my council didn´t know, was that I wanted to see the look on Liesmith´s face when I told him that the conquest of my realm was in a complete vain… Yes, that was kind of a consolation price I was willing to settle for in my last moments. But that doesn´t meant I gave up completely, as long as I can speak, there is always a small sparkle of hope.

 

_“At least, let a few of the mages stay with You.”_  He offered.

 

_“Alright, if they are willing, they can stay. That would be all gentlemen, thanks for your services and good luck. You are all dismissed.”_  There was no trace of sadness or any other emotion, I learned how to conceal them a long time ago.

 

As the men started to leave the room, I got up and poured myself a glass of wine, then my steps continued to the balcony. The horizon was on fire from the dying battle, the city under the palace, still very calm, almost oblivious to the storm which was about to hit it in a few hours. My realm wasn´t as big as Asgard or infamous as Jötunheim. No… It was a small world, only rising to its glory in the recent years. After my father died and my brother succeeded to the throne a lot of things changed. The true potential of my realm was its position. In a few years, we managed to become the trade centre of the entire universe. There were many ports and even more banks build across the whole country with the constant flow of money and goods in and out every day. Offers of alliances and deals were coming by hundreds and the influence of the kingdom grew with it. That was also the pretext why Liesmith himself came to conquer these lands, but I knew better. Somehow, he managed to uncover the greatest secret of the royal family, the secret that no one else should know. Deep in our vaults, hidden, was something he craved deeply. Something he wanted so badly he was willing to go to the war for it. For months, it seemed that the bloodshed will end up in our favour, but then, three days ago our biggest ally has turned sides and as a result, our army was weakened greatly and left vulnerable.  Until this moment the reason for their treachery was unclear to me. My dreams and desires crushed at once, I had anticipated the defeat since then. With a sigh, I returned to the throne and comfortably lounged at it. In the dim throne room was only me and six mages which volunteered to stay as my last guard. We all waited silently for hours as the sounds of battle drew nearer and nearer.  Then, a loud crack emitted from the door which forced my eyes to look up only to meet the green ones of my greatest enemy. My guards fought valiantly against the superior mage, but it didn´t even seem like the green god broke a sweat while killing them all. With a cocky stride, he approached the throne.

 

_“Princess?”_  He bowed mockingly.

 

_“That depends… is my brother dead?”_  I straightened my back.

 

_“Pardon me?”_  He seemed a little bit confused.

 

_“It would be queen if my dear brother already departed from this world.”_  I tapped one finger on the glass still filled with wine.

 

A smirk appeared on his face.  _“In that case, I´m the messenger of the bad news, princess.”_

 

_“Never mind, can I at least finish this glass before you kill me?”_

 

Loki was a little bit puzzled. He was expecting to find a princess, overcame with fear, maybe begging for her life, but his expectations were completely wrong. Of course, he heard about her. She was the politician, the negotiator behind her brother. It was said that if you need something from the king you don´t even need to bother to get the audience with him and arrange a meeting with the princess instead. But still, she was just a woman… girl.

 

He covered up his surprise.  _“By all means.”_

 

I measured him from head to toe. Dark hair, pale skin, tall figure… he was handsome and dangerous. The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that I was unable to guess what he was thinking of, the feat that was usually very easy.

 

_“Have you already send your men to the vaults?”_  I decided to break the silence again.

 

_“So, you managed to guess the true purpose of this war? I´m impressed.”_  He said with a fake admiration.

 

_“You are just another dog on a leash who´s trying to find the means to bite his owner´s leg, Laufeyson.”_  My smirk now could rival his own.

 

_“What did you say?”_  Liesmith´s eyes darkened with anger and magic.

 

_“Well, I think we can conclude that secrets are over-estimated among the people like us. One's desires, agendas, parentage…”_  I continued.

 

He wanted to kill this insolent brat at that exact moment, but then he thought.  _Was this her plan all along? Outrage him enough so he would kill her swiftly and painlessly? Or did she know that the more she would provoke him the better the chance that he would keep her alive just to torture her for a retribution? What does she want?_  He eyed her ones more. She was again sprawled across the throne in a red armour, her posture regal and confident even in the given situation, the (e/c) eyes never betraying a single emotion. Truth to be said he didn´t know anything about her true desires or agendas.     His evaluation was abruptly stopped by one of his man entering the throne room. He moved to Loki´s side and whispered something in his ear. Loki´s gaze again fell on the princess.

 

_“Where is it?”_  He slowly said voice laced with threat.

 

_“Something is missing?”_  I played innocent.

 

_“I said, where is it?!”_  Liesmith crossed the distance between us as he grabbed me and force my body to stand.

 

_“Gone, of course. What did you expect? I told you already that I knew what you were coming for.”_  A genuine smile was now playing on my lips.

 

_“Liar. Your bloodline is bound to protect it. You would never let it out of your sight.”_  His mood was getting fouler by every second.

 

_“And that´s why you would never anticipate my move. It´s long gone from this planet and since me and my brother, we both stayed here until the end you never had a reason to think otherwise.”_  To see his feelings cumulating deep in his eyes brought me more satisfaction than any victory could ever have.

 

_“Treacherous bitch, you will tell me exactly where did you send it.”_  His fingers found a way around my neck.

 

Loki stopped controlling himself at all, the anger bested him as he squeezed, pleased by the fact that the race of this world was more fragile than normal Asgardians. He could already feel the skin beneath his fingers bruising, it would be so easy to snap the neck of the little brat that wanted to play games with him.  He could feel the struggle as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp and he knew that it was futile. Finally, he let her fall to the ground. Loki expected her to beg or to stay silent but instead, her raspy voice rose again.

 

_“Unbeknownst to you Liesmith, you caused me my dreams. I will do my best to crush yours too.”_

* * *

A/N

 

Okay, my dears,

this is kind of a new approach from me. I wanted to write something where the reader would be a much darker character than normal (someone who could finally rival Loki himself? :P). That´s why I want to write the main character as not so noble anti-heroine? For now, I have just an unclear idea where are we going, but I would like to explore it more. Share your thoughts down below.


	2. The game is on

A/N This is not going to be a light chapter, so beware.

* * *

 

His anger slowly filled the room. In one moment he was enigma, completely unreadable character but then his mood changed as fast as an autumn weather. Laufeyson´s composure crumbled with his sudden outburst. Although, it was me who was defeated on the floor by his feet, surely, I felt otherwise.

 

 _“You refuse to talk then, Your Highness?”_ His voice laced with unspoken threat.

 

 _“I don´t have the answers you want.”_ Defiant as ever I slowly rose up to my feet.

 

 _“Maybe one of my servants will help you come up with the right reply.”_ Loki´s previous temper started to cool off. He wasn´t here to play children´s games, he needed the treasure this realm so carefully hid for millenniums. It didn´t matter to him how he gets the answers as long as he gets them. _“Guards! Take our new guest to the camp. Tell Svar that lady is refusing to speak.”_

 

I decided to spare him one more glance filled with loathing before the guards took me away. It could be anticipated that he would try to force me into a confession. But I was a step ahead, when commands were issued to move “Nihilum” out of our treasure room I made sure I had no idea where are my captains going to take it. It was one of the many precautions that were taken in case things will end up badly. If I know nothing, they won´t get it out of me no matter how much will they try, I just have to survive a little longer. My confidence faltered when guards open the tent and “introduced” me to a man named Svar. He was gigantic, scars stretching across his face and hands. Quickly, guards restrained my hands and proceeded to strip off my armour leaving me in my shirt and breeches. Now barefoot and without any means of protection, my eyes wandered around the tent in a pointless search of escape.

 

 _“You have one last chance little lass. My king asks you a simple question. Where is it?”_ Svar spoke with a menacing voice.

 

 _“I told him, I have no answer for that since I don´t know.”_ My reply clearly didn´t make him happy.

 

Svar immediately closed the distance between us and stroke me with a powerful punch. It was a miracle that he didn´t break my jaw but I ended up with a badly split lip anyway.

 

_“I will not tolerate any pointless remarks from you. I ask again, where is it?”_

 

 _“Literally, no idea.”_ Copper taste filled my senses as the pain started to settle in.

 

Next blow aimed at my stomach, one after that at my ribs. The interrogation was simple, Svar asked me a question I refused to answer, then he would lend another punch. After one nasty kick to the head, I could finally feel my conciseness giving away. The last thing I saw was Svar´s heavy boots.

 

I was woken up by icy cold water as Svar dumped a whole bucket on me.

 

 _“Morning, little princess. I hope you slept well.”_ He said, mocking me with his tone.

 

Slowly, the vision started to come back to me as I looked at my surroundings. My head was throbbing with pain, but the thing that caught my attention was a knife in Svar´s hand. He must have noticed where my eyes lingered because he looked down on it too.

 

 _“You were out for two days and my master starts to grow impatient with you.”_ He slowly pressed the blade against my neck. _“Be a good girl and tell me everything.”_

 

Instead of a verbal reply, I only shook my head.

 

Slowly, he traced the blade down my neck to my shoulder and then he stopped on the forearm. There was a moment before the knife bore into my skin but it wasn´t enough to prepare myself for the pain that followed. My gaze was fixed on my skin as I watched Svar carving a big letter “L” on my arm. It could have meant anything… “Looser”, “Liar”, but the most plausible choice was “Loki”.

 

 _“Still nothing, huh? Maybe I´m being too soft on you.”_ Svar exclaimed, clearly disappointed. _“Well, other soldiers won´t repeat my mistake, they are pretty bored right now. You will provide much-needed entertainment.”_

 

 _“Wait.”_ I finally said, deciding that this was as far as I was willing to go with my plan.

 

_“I´m listening.”_

 

_“Take me to your master. I´m ready to tell him the truth.”_

 

Svar took me off the chair and threw clean shirt and trousers on me. Nothing fancy, but at least it wasn´t covered in blood. With clothes, he also gave me a bandage.

 

 _“Get changed and bandage your arm.”_ He snickered.

 

I turned away to salvage at least some dignity and quickly changed. After that, I wrapped the linen around the wound on my arm. At this point, everything hurt. Breathing, standing, walking was impossible without help. Svar released annoyed puff as he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me back to the castle. As we were passing through the corridors, I could have seen that some of the rooms were still being looted and searched. The path we took was all too familiar to me, it led us straight to my study. There, behind my huge desk was sitting the conqueror himself. Svar dropped me on the chair in front of him and then excused himself.

 

 _“Well, princess. I´ve heard that you have a confession to make.”_ Liesmith´s face was lit with a victorious smile.

 

My body was slumped on the chair, struggling to sit upright. But the thing that worried me was the state of my mind. A headache was getting worse every passing minute and it surely distracted me from thinking clearly.

 

_“I confess, that I really don´t know where it is.”_

 

His hand landed on the desk as he stood up, already in the mood to kill.

 

_“Svar apparently was too kind to you, but I promise you that ends now.”_

 

 _“Stop. I was willing to take up some beating to prove a point, but I´m not a soldier. I´m a diplomat. This was enough.”_ My tired eyes locked with his.

 

 _“To prove a point?”_ He asked.

 

_“When the Nihilum was sent away, I made sure no one knows where it goes. There were ten boxes made and I´ve placed it in one of them, the rest remained empty. Then, ten captains came, each of them picking up one box. Purposely, I didn´t look who took which box. After that, they left. Their command is to go as far away as possible and if me and my brother both die, they should bury the boxes somewhere and disappear. They were also instructed to change ships every five days. If I told you this before, you would probably think it’s a lie and you will torture me nevertheless.”_

 

 _“And what makes you believe that I will trust you know?”_ His face hardened and become unreadable again.

 

 _“You had roughly three days to search this entire place and to cool off a little bit. When the war was lost I knew that I will get hurt one way or another. But I have to admit there is also an ulterior motive. If I had told you this three days earlier, you will set after my captains immediately. Now, three days passed and message of our loss has spread and surely reached them.”_ I explained.

 

 _“So, this all was just to stall me a little bit?”_ Liesmith was weighing the knowledge he obtained.

 

 _“Yes. But three days that I bought them with my own blood should be enough.”_ My hand clutched my forehead to chase away a headache.

 

Loki stood up and slowly walk around the table. He was pondering his options. She was slumped on the chair in plain clothes, body covered in bruises. But still she refused to give up the game, still a step ahead of him. He clicked his tongue annoyed.

 

 _“And after this revelation… are you not afraid that I will have you tortured just for fun?”_ He leaned on the edge of the desk next to her.

 

 _“It´s a possibility, but I don´t think so. You like to toy with people, to break them, to bend them to your will, still you are not a sadist.”_ At least I hoped so.

 

Corners of his mouth curled into a vile smile. The simplest option was to kill her, but at the same time, she presented a challenge. Small distraction while his search for Nihilum continues. Maybe she was aware of that and it was her plan all along or not. He wasn´t sure anymore.

 

_“You are right I think that´s enough of the physical torture. But don´t think for a second that I´m done with you.”_

 

 _“I would never make such a mistake.”_ Even speaking was now too hard. Still, the game was on and I intended to play as long as I can. The first small win was that Liesmith himself didn´t see through my own lie. There were thirteen ships, not just ten.

 

* * *

A/N

This chapter is rather more or less just a base for continuation of the story, so please bear with me. In next chapters, we will see much more of Loki´s flickering character.


	3. Nobody likes to lose

Upon regaining my consciousness again, I was still in my old study with Liesmith sitting across the table. His fingers were crossed under his chin as he was silently watching me. With a small grunt, I straightened my back.

 

 _“Bring him in.”_ Loki´s voice suddenly cut the silence.

 

Guards came to the room dragging between them a completely battered man. It took me a moment to recognise my brother´s features. They dropped him on the chair beside me and if it wasn´t for my swift hands he would surely drop to the floor.

 

 _“Is this how you treat royalty?”_ Anger was seeping out of my tone.

 

 _“You mean an enemy?”_ Liesmith lazily shot back.

 

 _“You are just a little savage wolf as all of your Jontunheim´s ancestors.”_ The remark wasn´t as clever or snarky as I would like it to be, but my temper was getting the best of me.

 

 _“Charming.”_ His reply was arrogant and mocking, he was obviously enjoying the moment when he caught me reflecting my true emotions.

 

 _“(Y/N)…?”_ The raspy voice of my brother shifted my attention from annoying god across the table.

 

 _“Don´t speak. You will be alright, I promise.”_ I tried to reassure him a little bit.

 

 _“I´m sorry that we were unable to stop him… Did he hurt you?”_ My brother was slowly getting back to the reality.

 

 _“If I may interrupt this emotional reunion, we have a lot of things to deal with.”_ Loki´s impatiently stopped me before I could reply. _“You lost the war which raises a question what should I do with the two of you. Of course, dear princess already informed me that at least one of you has to be kept alive in a sake of finding the Nihilum.”_

 

 _“Speak to the point.”_ I was the one to interrupt his monologue this time.

 

 _“As you wish. I thought about it and it´s not very convenient for me to deal with the new leadership of this realm. The solution is simple. King himself will pledge his allegiance to me, your realm will pay tribute every month and all of the important decisions will have to be approved by me first. In exchange, you can keep the crown.”_ He was now talking directly to my brother.

 

 _“What you meant to say is that your quest for Nihilum failed and you don´t have enough manpower to siege this planet indefinitely. Needless to say, you also don´t have enough time to deal with the inner functioning of another realm. But you still want to retain upper hand and get resources from us. Something you can present to your allies since they don’t know anything about your ulterior motives.”_ My voice forced Liesmith to shift his attention back to me.

 

Loki was slowly getting more and more irritated. This wasn´t part of his scheme and he hated the fact that he must now plan as the time goes. But he was also unwilling to show to what extent this situation bothers him.

 

 _“Thank you for summarization, Your Highness. Of course, you must understand that this is not negotiable. If your brother refuses he will lose his crown AND his sister. It will be a little bit more tedious for me but unlike you, I still have the power on my side, even despite your constant denial. To be honest I think I´m more than generous with this proposal.”_ The title was spat more like an insult. Loki knew that at this point they all realized that there is not really a choice to be made. They HAVE to accept.

 

 _“In that case I_ _acce_ _-..”_ King started.

 

 _“Silence.”_ I cut him mid-sentence.

 

My brother was the king and he was without a doubt a good person, but he lacked all diplomatic skills. He was a fierce fighter, competent general, exceptional womanizer and complete disaster in the ruling department. Everyone in the council knew that the silent agreement was that he can hunt, drink, and party all days under the condition that he lets me take the charge of the governing of our realm. If I was a man like Loki I would dethrone him years ago, but that wasn´t the case. I was the princess everyone trusted and as long as the power was de facto in my hands I didn´t care about the titles. But that power was now slipping through my fingers like a running water.

 

 _“If we accept your proposal, you will leave us? That´s it?”_ I asked. There must be a catch, he must know that if he withdraws like that I will plot a rebellion against him before the supper. It will definitely take some time but it will come to pass nevertheless.

 

Loki´s mouth stretched into a smirk. This sibling duo reminded him a little bit of him and Thor. Heir to the throne clearly not very fit for the rule while younger sibling who´s far more equipped for that role cast to play the side-kick. He wasn´t really able to understand why she didn´t get rid of her brother long time ago.

 

 _“I was talking about the king. My belief is that princess should accompany me to my realm. To serve as an ambassador_ _between_ _us.”_ He was now very well aware that he can´t leave her here unchecked. Without her, this kingdom won´t pose such a threat.

 

 _“Hostage would be a more fitting title I presume.”_ I shot back. It all made sense, he would not leave me on my own ground to make more allies and plot against him. He was not that stupid.

 

 _“Or you can choose the death of course. Whatever is more to your liking.”_ Loki tapped on the table with one of his long fingers. He knew that she is cornered now.

 

 _“Let´s be clear. Without me, the profits and alliances of this planet might not hold.”_ It was unfortunate that I had to mention this in front of my brother, even though it was the truth.

 

 _“And if it comes to that you will be forced to watch all of your work come undone by your own blood. It´s kind of a win-win situation for me as I see it. What have you told me earlier? That you will do your best to crush my dreams? I might just return the favour.”_ It was more than obvious that the victory in this face-off was his to claim. And he enjoyed every second of it.

 

 _“Fine. We accept.”_ I yielded.

 

 _“Are you sure?”_ My brother asked.

 

 _“Yes, don´t worry. I´m sure this will be just a temporary.”_ All of my strength was now used to keep the calm appearance.

 

 _“Brilliant. I will prepare the ceremony where can king publicly swear his allegiance. Guards will escort you both to the healers now.”_ Loki snapped his fingers to call his man. One last time I was able to grace him with the icy glance before we were taken out of the room.

 

Brother´s injuries required much more attention than mine so I was soon free to roam the ruins which were once called my home. Silent steps found their way to my quarters, where upon arrival, the scenery left me mortified. Hopes that I will at least find some decent clothes and shoes were instantly crushed. Everything was looted… including dresses, jewellery and personal belongings. What else to expect from an army partially consisted of mercenaries? This discovery forced me to endure the whole day in the racks Svar provided earlier, it also included attending the ceremony shoeless looking more like a beggar than the sister of the king. Part of me was pretty sure Loki is revelling in every minute of my discomfort, smug smile betraying his emotions. Right after the pledges were made Liesmith personally escorted me to his ship.

 

 _“I must say your fashion will surely raise a few eyebrows at my court.”_ He said with his typical mocking tone while seating us inside.

 

 _“Says man wearing the most stupid helmet nine realms have ever seen.”_ If Loki thinks that he can have the last word with me he will be unpleasantly surprised. He was taking me away from home, from my friends, allies and the source of my power. But on every court, there are enemies of the rule. Or as I call them now, my new best friends.

 

* * *

A/N

Dear reader,

I´m sorry it took me so long to update. Finally, we had some holidays so I wasn´t home that much. Things are going to only heat up in the following chapters, so prepare yourselves. Loki doesn´t know what kind of a guest he “invited” to his house:P.


	4. Check-mate

Arrival at Liesmith´s planet was as humiliating as I imagined. He took off immediately, leaving me with guards which escorted me to my new quarters. Well, quarters. More like a small dark room with even smaller bathroom. Officially, I was a “guest”, but everyone knew the reality of my situation and behave accordingly. No lunch, no maids, no visits. When I thought that they just left me there to rot the doors opened and a maid came in.

 

_“M´lady…”_ She didn´t even bother to do a courtesy. _“You are requested at the dinner, I brought you a dress.”_ In her hands was a gown, deep green colour with a small gold embroidery.

 

_“Show me.”_ I gestured her to come closer to inspect the piece of the garment in her hands. The gown was long but with a really deep, plunging neckline and bareback.

 

I knew that it was petty, even more since my wardrobe was diminished to the things I was now wearing, but still, to wear this might send a wrong message. In court everything counts, every small detail can be inspected and then interpreted accordingly. This dress was screaming “Loki´s spoils of war” and needless to say, that wasn´t a title I would be interested in.

_“Are there any… other options?”_ I asked.

 

The maid looked at me, confused. _“No.”_

 

_“Do you personally have anything I can wear instead of this?”_

_“M´lady, I am but a mere servant here, my dresses are not suitable for such an occasion.”_

 

_“Anything will do, something simple, preferably not in this hideous colour.”_ I dismissed her protest.

 

She seemed more and more uncomfortable. Who could have blamed her?

 

_“Listen, girl, get me anything. Simple dress and shoes in a matching colour and you can keep this dress. The material is quite expensive, so you should be able to get a nice sum for it. Surely, you can use some spare coins.”_ I continued.

 

_“Well, but what if he founds out…”_ The maid looked a little bit torn between the prospect of an unexpected earning and infuriating her master.

 

_“And do you think that your king picked my dress by himself? He is not going to care about something so trivial.”_ To be honest, it was quite possible he would do that just to make me more uncomfortable, but the truth wasn´t that important after all.

 

Finally, the vision of gold swayed her mind. _“Alright, M´lady… wait a little bit.”_ With this an excuse, she left the room.

 

After another half an hour she came back with a simple dark grey dress and shoes. Nothing special, maybe less than special but better than the green slutty outfit.

 

_“If that would be all.”_ The maid tried to back out of the room.

 

_“Wait, one more thing. I have one question about the dinner. What about the seating arrangements at this court?”_ With the change of dress, I was probably already running late and I wanted to avoid any faux-pas.

 

_“Higher the title the closer you will sit next to the king. Right now, you are the only princess here.”_

_“Thank you, that would be all.”_ I waved her off.

 

The gown was really simple and there was no need for her to help me in. Thankfully, it also had long sleeves so it would hide ugly scar on my forearm. Ready to face lion´s den I stepped out of the room and guards escorted me to the main dining hall. The palace itself was beautiful and luxurious, very Asgard-like, but colder. Since the small fight with Hela destroyed the original Asgard, Loki made himself a new home. Upon my arrival, I checked the room. All of the seats except one were already taken, the free one was on the very end, almost hidden in the window´s curtains. Liesmith was sitting on his golden throne, on his left side sat a man I didn´t recognize and on the right one a stunning lady laughing at something king just said. Apparently, she tried really hard to sway his attention in her direction. It reminded me of my brother and his many conquests. Women trying to climb the ladder in a horizontal position. When I took few more steps the attention of the hall was suddenly all on me, even Loki himself stopped, waiting for my reaction. Without missing a beat, I continued to the throne, now towering over said ladder-climber.

_“Apologies, I think this is my seat.”_ My voice neutral.

_“Unfortunately, it´s already taken as you can see, princess.”_ She flashed a smile but her tone was venomous.

 

_“I will pardon your misstep in the dining etiquette, lady… I´m sorry, we weren´t formally introduced… a lady who?”_

 

Her smile dropped a little bit. _“Lady Tove, I…”_

 

Before she could finish the sentence, I interrupted her. _“One of the gentlemen will surely escort you to your place.”_

 

The tension in the room was almost palpable. To my surprise, and Tove´s delight, Liesmith himself got up. Now, she wasn´t able to deny my request anymore, but she still shot me an angry glance while Loki escorted her. For a brief moment, I contemplated to sit on his, now vacant, throne, just for my little amusement but instead I sat on the chair. Finally, after everyone found their seats the feast continued. My starving stomach was more than happy to comply.

 

_“I see you are not wearing a dress I´ve sent you.”_ Liesmith´s low voice sounded beside me.

_“If you want to send a dress to a woman you should first found out what is her style.”_ If he wanted to play, I wasn´t against teaching him another lesson.

 

_“So, your taste is… to dress like a servant?”_ He came with a come-back.

 

_“Not exactly, but the green-gold fool look is already taken. It would be such an embarrassment if we both sport it, don´t you think?”_ His garments, of course, were in his signature colours and I just couldn´t resist.

 

Loki wasn´t able to stop a little smirk that formed on his lips, he knew that this will be fun. He is really going to enjoy knocking her down from her high horse. Normally, this kind of remarks wouldn´t sit well with him, but today he celebrated a battle he won.

 

The banquet continued even after the dinner was finished, the music sounded and guests started chatting, Liesmith bathed in the glory of his victory and some couples engaged in a dance. My only entertainment was scanning the room, looking for familiar faces and potential allies and of course, wine. As the evening continued, Loki suddenly stood up, demanding silence in the room.

 

_“My loyal allies, our recent victory belongs to everyone in this room and I would like to share some of it with you.”_ He waved on the servants standing by the walls to come forward with chests. _“Just a small token of my appreciation.”_

 

As they opened the chests, I could see gold, _my gold_ , jewels, artefacts… the loot which was taken from the palace after the battle. Years of practice kept my face straight and without any emotion as they began to take apart my family´s heirloom and other treasures. The real blow came when Liesmith went behind Lady Tove and from depths of his coat´s pocket took out a stunning diamond necklace. My necklace, my most favourite piece of jewellery. She glowed as he placed it around her small neck while not taking his eyes off me, waiting for any reaction. I finished the glass of wine, forcing my eyes elsewhere. Fresh air, that was all I needed now. After pouring another full goblet I went straight to the large balcony, leaving everything behind. The cold wind sent shivers running down my spine but at the same time cooled of any trails of rage that has accumulated in me.

_“I see, this apparently struck a nerve.”_ Voice behind me ruined this peaceful moment.

 

Without turning I kept staring out into the darkness.

_“Your servants said that this one was your favourite. Was it a gift? Maybe from someone special?”_ Liesmith came even closer.

_“Someone special?”_ I said mockingly while turning to him.

_“Forbidden love? Did icy princess experience a heartbreak?”_ He guessed, still trying to read me.

 

_“Why should I tell you anything about my past?”_ I asked.

 

Loki could sense that this clearly was a touchy subject. Excellent, more he can get under her skin, quicker he will break her.

 

_“If you tell me I will truly answer you one question.”_ He offered.

 

Unbeknownst to him, I had the same idea. The more I learn about him, the more can I use against him.

 

_“Very well, a long long time ago there were three kingdoms with a history of quarrels, now living in a fragile peace. In one of those kingdoms lived a princess, secretly in love with a prince from an enemy realm, while in the third country ruled a king without any children, his only love dying before their marriage. Father of the princess learned about the forbidden relationship and he was VERY angry, but for the sake of the diplomacy, he couldn´t refuse prince and his secret proposal of marriage.”_ Slowly, I started.

 

_“I heard your father was a very strict man.”_ Loki listened to every word, celebrating that he can finally see a fatal flaw in princess. She was like everyone else, tormented by feelings.

 

_“The king was cunning, he always wanted to unite all three kingdoms under his rule, so he came up with a cruel plan. It was known that the king of the third kingdom was, even after all these years, mourning the loss of his would-be wife. Therefore, he told the prince that he can marry the princess under one condition. As her wedding gift, the prince has to get a diamond necklace that was created for the dead fiancée of the third king and until he comes back he has to keep it from the princess as a surprise. He lied to the prince, that this necklace is something princess wants more than anything else in her life. It was said that the diamonds were unlike anything in the universe, the most beautiful piece of jewellery ever created. His true plan was to alert the other king that prince is trying to steal it, which would surely bewilder the mourning king and cause a war between his two neighbours. When they finish each other off, he would step in and take both of their lands without any struggle.”_ I didn´t care about his comments.

_“I found a new respect for your father, his plan is merciless.”_

_“Prince was crazed by love and he agreed. Of course, according to the plan he was captured and the third king, blinded by anger, killed him on spot. That sparked a war between two kingdoms while the father of the princess waited for an opportunity to strike. What he didn´t know was that princess eventually found out that it was her father´s plan to send her naïve prince to his death. Desperate, she went to prince´s father and she told him the whole truth. Now even the third kingdom was dragged into the war since prince´s father blamed both of his neighbours for his only son´s death.”_

_“And princess ended up with an angry father and a diamond necklace which caused her lover´s death. One last reminder of a childish mistake she made. Now I see why you would be upset about losing it, given how much you lost because of it.”_ A smug smile was now playing on Loki´s lips. He can use this not only to break her but to completely destroy her.

_“No, princess jumped from a tower after betraying her father. She died before the war even ended.”_ I took a sip from a glass.

 

_“What?”_ Liesmith´s smug face turned into a very confused one.

 

“ _What these three kingdoms and YOU didn´t know is that there also was the fourth kingdom. Small, not very rich one. The one they always abused for unfair deals without ever taking it seriously. Sometimes, to keep up a façade, they would invite someone from the royal family only to mock them, showing that even though their status was same, they weren´t really equal. That´s how I learned about the forbidden love and the necklace. It only took a small effort to plant an idea in princess father´s head. About the necklace and war. It took also one dinner filled with questions about his dead fiancée to reopen old wounds. And it took only a few minutes to persuade the princess to come clean to prince´s father. You see, I´m not a princess in this story, I was an ambassador for these three kingdoms, going back and forward between them, swallowing down their snarky remarks. But without them knowing, it was my own plan to force them into a war, draining their resources, cutting down their families, because after the war ended there was no one left to rule. We just came and took all three lands without a fight.”_

 

Liesmith was processing the unexpected plot twist. _“And the necklace?”_

_“I took it. It always reminds me that while as a ruler you should be loved by your subjects, you also should never love anything back. Prince loved the princess, one king loved power, the second loved his son and the third loved his dead lover. And how did they end up?”_

_“So, you just faked that you are upset?”_ Loki was dumbfounded, he thought he is moving to check-mate, but right now he wasn´t sure if he has any control over the game. No one in a long time caught him off guard like this.

 

_“No, I´m upset. I like that necklace.”_ A smile was now playing on my lips. He is starting to get who is he dealing with.

* * *

 

A/N

Hello, beauties,

I warned you that reader won´t be an innocent, powerless little princess. Loki should start to take this seriously:P. Also, what do you think about Tove? There probably will be some pay-back. As always, leave a comment if you have any thoughts or suggestions.

 

XOXO


	5. The perfect match

_“You´ve tricked me.”_ Loki said, still very much caught off guard.

 

_“Am I the first one ever to trick the trickster?”_ I laughed a little bit, enjoying this small victory.

 

_“Is this the question you want me to answer truthfully?”_ Liesmith asked.

_“No… I think I will have to think about it. Have a pleasant night, Your Majesty.”_ With that, I went around him back to the ballroom.

 

After our exchange, I decided to go back to my room. The halls of the palace were mostly empty, except a few wandering couples. My mind was occupied, so I didn´t pay any attention to my surroundings, not until I almost collided with a tall figure. When my eyes locked with the stranger I instinctively took a step back. It wasn´t a stranger, not at all. The tall man before me was Erebos. The traitor himself. Our former ally who turned to Loki´s side and subsequently caused us the war.

 

_“What are you doing here? You came to gloat?”_ My voice was once again icy cold.

 

Instead of an answer, he grabbed my forearm and pushed me to the closest door. There was no chance of an escape, his grip was iron-clad, digging in the injury sustained during the interrogation. He forced me inside of the dark room and closed the door behind him. Only after that, he finally released my hand.

_“Here we can speak privately.”_    His smile sent the shivers running down my spine.

 

I never liked him, he was dangerous but powerful. He was a necessary evil quite literally. Everything about him screamed darkness. Erebos was a different kind of a villain. With Liesmith, it was easy to understand his motivation and personality, Erebos was a chaos itself in a human form. Why he turned sides was still beyond me.

 

_“You must have a lot of questions.”_ He continued.

 

_“Only one. Why?”_ I put some distance between us.

 

_“Mighty (Y/N) doesn´t know?”_ His tone mocking. _“It´s fairly simple. Loki is standing in my way and if anyone is capable of bringing him down, it´s you. But you would never pick a fight with him, so I pushed things a little bit.”_

 

_“You? How?”_ This came as a total surprise.

 

_“Let´s say that I uncovered your family´s precious secret. And I made sure this knowledge will be passed down to Loki. Without me, your loss was imminent. As you can see, it was my plan to play both of you and you made it so easy.”_ Erebos went to the window, looking outside.

 

_“Speak to the point.”_ I was still processing the situation.

 

_“I need to get rid of Loki and you are the perfect person to do it for me. I knew that you two will tear each other to pieces. So, when your brother foolishly babbled about Nihilum to one of his conquests the opportunity presented itself. What your brother didn´t know was that the girl reported everything back to me. I don´t care what this Nihilum is, but Liesmith is clearly very interested in it. The rest is a history. Now, you are here and I need you to get to the work.”_

 

The fact that my brother was so reckless shook me deeply. I was furious, mad at my brother and mad at myself for not seeing this coming.

 

_“What makes you think that I have any intentions to help you?”_ I tried to remain calm, repaying him with a sarcastic tone.

 

He closed the distance between us quicker than I imagined. He pushed me to the wall, now towering over me.

 

_“Because you have no choice. You were always so pretentious, thinking you are smarter than anyone else. But look at yourself. Where is your power now? Did I also forget to mention that I have the Nihilum? Oh yes, you thought your captains are completely devoted to you? Turns out everyone has a price.”_ He was enjoying every second.

 

The news that he has the Nihilum left me terrified. Yes, terrified. The feeling I haven´t felt for so long, even when Liesmith marched into the throne room and I knew there was a chance he would kill me. The only bright side was that he clearly wasn´t after the Nihilum, he probably didn´t even know what it was.

 

_“You are bluffing.”_ I decided to try him.

 

He scoffed a little bit and took a small tablet out of his pocket. On the screen was a live feed of a small room with an open chest in the middle and there inside, I saw it. He wasn´t bluffing.

 

_“I often imagined the look on your face in this moment. It´s even better.”_ His fingers caressed my hair.

 

I flinched and looked him straight in the eye. _“Stop playing. What exactly do you want from me?”_

 

_“You and Loki, you are the same. He took an interest in you, it´s a challenge for him, a little amusement. That means you can get close to him, I need to know what is he planning. Without it, I can´t move against him. In return, if I succeed, the Nihilum will be returned to your family. My scientists examined it thoroughly and couldn´t find anything even remotely interesting for me. In a case, you fail…”_ He left the threat unfinished.

 

_“Why go to such a length? Why don´t you bring Liesmith down yourself? Or more precisely, why siding with him? With you, we would have won.”_ I was clearly missing something really important here.

 

_“Let´s just say it´s complicated.”_ He averted my question.

 

_“Naturally.”_

 

My mind was overwhelmed with thoughts. If I side with Erebos to take out Loki there is no guarantee that he won´t just kill me after the task is done. On the other hand, if I tell Liesmith about this, we might be able to best Erebos, but there was also a great chance that before we would be able to do that, Erebos would put Nihilum between us and that was something I couldn´t risk. The only option left was to take them both down, one by one. Damn, I came here to find allies but it seems that new enemies were flocking much quicker.

 

_“Congratulation, you managed to fool both of us.”_ I continued. _“But excuse my hesitance. If we manage to remove Loki, my usefulness to you ends there. Who says that you wouldn´t screw me over again?”_

 

_“(Y/N), we know each other for so long. I have a soft spot for you. It was always clear to me that we are a perfect match. You just have to admit it.”_ He tried to smile which made his statement even creepier.

 

_“Are you attempting to sweet-talk me? You are no prince charming.”_ I tried to defuse the tension building up between us.

 

A small chuckle escaped his lips. _“Did someone ever managed to sweet-talk you? No, I´m proposing a much stronger alliance between us. Now, when you experienced defeat you might be much more open to such an offer.”_

 

I gathered all of my strength and finally pushed him away. He was toying with me and it started to get on my nerves. _“I´m not amused by your jokes. Let´s make things clear, I intended to get rid of Liesmith myself, so our goals once again align. Beyond that, I wouldn´t dare to presume anything, understood?”_

 

_“You will come around eventually.”_ He didn´t try anything else.

 

_“You should remember that what goes around, comes around.”_ I quickly went to the door, swiftly exiting the room.

 

It took almost an inhumane strength to suppress the instinct to run away as far as possible. The stakes were becoming higher every passing second. New obstacles and new players. Liesmith, Erebos, me… we all had our goals, something we wanted. I have to make sure they will never figure out mine, but I uncover theirs. Erebos wasn´t interested in Nihilum which, at this moment, was making him a lesser threat. Loki wanted it. I really doubted he knew what are its true powers, he probably wanted to use it as a power source. No one knew, except me, not even my big-mouthed brother. And I was pretty sure that they couldn´t even imagine what my endgame is. I was still confident that I can win this. No more fooling around.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello dear reader,

 

yes, I decided to add a new villain to the mix. Loki might be a “bad boy” but he is not darkness itself reincarnated. Don´t worry, next chapter will again focus more on Reader and Loki and one more enemy that was left out in this chapter :P.

P.S. I will try to explain more about the “endgame” in the next chapters and rest assured, it´s more than ambitious plan.


	6. Sleepless nights

That night, I couldn´t fell asleep at all. My mind was consumed with thoughts of recent events. I never really doubt myself, but in these days a small dent of uneasiness wedged itself into my brain. Am I overestimating my abilities? I was always standing alone, used to depending only on myself, but in the coldness of the room, I felt, for the first time, truly lonely. In the upcoming days, it was my plan to get closer to Liesmith, if I manage that, Nihilum will remain relatively safe for the time being. But at the same time, who knows if Loki won´t get bored of our little game. There was no one to stop him if he decides that it would be better to eliminate me. Erebos might express that for him, I still hold a value, but it wasn´t in his nature to come to someone rescue.

    The morning came rather early with a small knock on the door. One of the maids came with several boxes.

 

_“What is that?”_ I asked, still in the bed.

 

_“I was instructed to bring these to you, M´lady.”_ She placed the boxes at the corner of the room.

 

_“By whom?”_

_“Can´t tell, M´lady. If you excuse me…”_ The maid proceeded to back out of my chamber without even looking at me.

 

I dragged my tired legs to the boxes and opened them. On the neatly folded dresses was a note. My initial guess was that the sender is the king. That was until I unfolded the paper. There it was, black on white.

 

_\- I own you._

_E._

 

Fingers holding the paper crushed it immediately. A surge of anger went through my body as a lightning bolt, _that bastard_ …  He is going to pay for this one day, preferably sooner than later. In the other boxes were some more pieces of clothing and jewellery. Everything from gowns to diamonds was pitch black, as his freaking soul. Despite my apprehension, I also knew that I can´t wear the same maid´s outfit every day, it was unbecoming to the title of a princess and it could greatly undermine my status too. If I show up in this, it will send a better message – that I still have allies here. The true meaning of this “gift” will be known only by me and Erebos. So, I carefully picked a dress and a necklace. One thing I couldn´t complain about was the outstanding lavishness, finally, I felt like my old self. When I stepped out of the bedroom I wasn´t sure where to go next. _What does Liesmith usually do at this time of a day?_ After a moment of consideration, I decided just to explore the palace, with a little bit of a luck I will find him eventually. As my steps rounded the corner, I spotted a group of ladies having a breakfast on one of the balconies.

 

_“Princess (Y/N)!”_ One of them stood up as soon as she spotted me. _Lady Tove… of course._ She was wearing a stunning gown with a plunging neckline complimenting her beautiful necklace, my necklace.

 

_“Ladies, please, enjoy your meal.”_ I said with a formal smile, ready to proceed.

_“No, wait, You must be famished, come and join us.”_ Her own smile couldn´t be more fake.

 

She probably wanted to repay me for the dinner, it was the same as on every other court. I humiliated her, so now was her turn to return the favour. She was the queen bee of all the ladies here and her reputation was tarnished by me. It would be impolite to refuse, but at least I can observe the relationships between the women here. Some of them, without a doubt, hate Lady Tove and could serve as protentional allies or pawns at least.

_“Thank you.”_ Without other words, I sat down between them.

 

_“We were just talking about this amazing gift Loki gave me.”_ She touched the necklace and then looked at me, enticingly. _“What do You think princess, isn´t it beautiful?”_

 

Everyone in the room knew the origins of the piece and I could almost feel the tension building up.

 

_“It´s very pretty, but I myself don´t like hand-me-down jewellery that much_.” Acknowledging that I was the previous owner while going into offensive was probably not a reaction she wanted.

 

_“Well, these diamonds are the most beautiful in the whole universe, the king said that it´s only right it should belong to the most beautiful woman too.”_

 

I was pretty sure that Liesmith would rather stab himself in the throat than to say something like that. Ladies around me were almost not breathing, hanging on every word of our exchange.

 

_“The king must then truly love you. but it´s kind of sad that he opted for a necklace instead of a ring to show his affections.”_ Hinting that she was still far away from becoming a queen was like a slap in the face.

 

_“I´m sure it´s only a matter of time. After that, we would unfortunately have to find a new seat for you.”_ Her eyes became daggers as she was fighting to remain stoic.

 

_“No need, there are two seats next to king´s throne in the dining hall. I will be more than happy to share the other one with you.”_ I could see that she was starting to lose the control. Good.

 

_“Yes, of course. By the way, I adore your outfit. Yesterday, I could have mistaken you for a maid.”_ She was clever enough to drop the previous subject, instead, she found a new target.

 

_“Thank you.”_ I knew which way is this heading and I wasn´t really willing to share.

_“Who is the sender? You must excuse my curiosity, but I simply want to get to know you better, we will surely become very good friends in no time. So please, tell us who is this mysterious suitor?”_ Her face must have been hurting from all the smiling.

 

_“Suitor? No, just an old acquittance. There is only one man here with a status high enough to become my suitor, but for the sake of our friendship, I would never even think of such a possibility.”_

 

The grip on her glass became so tight that I thought it would shatter it.

_“I feel like we are best friends already.”_ Her voice was like a dripping venom.

 

She gave up on the idea of challenging me. The talk amongst ladies grew duller every second. At least I had time to eat while listening to the latest gossips. Unfortunately, it was nothing even remotely interesting to me. After the breakfast, one by one they started to scatter out of the room, leaving only me and Lady Tove at the end. As soon as the last lady exited the door, her smile finally disappeared.

 

_“You are nothing but a beggar-princess.”_ She stood up, it almost seemed she needed to put herself above me literally.

 

_“And you are nothing.”_ Lazily, I met her eyes while remaining seated. Truth to tell, I could have said worse things. She was a whore in the first place, but I refrained from a direct insult.

 

She stormed out of the room, knocking a glass of wine in the process. My lips twitched a little bit. This was far more amusing than I previously imagined. After Loki and Erebos, quarrel with Lady Tove posed as a relaxation. Still, I should have been more careful, she will go after me now. After finishing my wine, I resumed my exploration of the palace. Upon reaching the library, I stopped. The collection of books was amazing, every genre one can imagine was there, but most importantly… books about magic. I wasn´t mage nor was I much gifted in that area, but since handling the Nihilum required some basic skills I had to learn it. Without thinking, my hands picked a few books and placed them next to a comfortable looking chair. One of the servants brought me a wine, so I fully submerged myself in the old texts.

 

_“You drink a lot.”_ An hour or so into my peaceful day a familiar voice sounded in front of me.

 

_“You talk a lot.”_ I replied, closing the book, focusing on Liesmith.

 

He looked down at it. _“My mother´s old book? Why would you be interested in that topic?”_

 

_“I´m just assessing the extent of your potential capabilities. I didn´t know it was Lady Frigga´s. She was a very admirable woman.”_

_“You sound like you´ve met her.”_ Suddenly, Liesmith seemed interested.

 

_“Yes, I did. You tend to forget the fact that I´m not a Midgardian. We all met a long time ago when my family was invited to Asgard to sign a treaty. I still remember, you were really mean to my poor brother, but he couldn´t do anything since it was you.”_ That memory brought a smile to my face.

 

_“That doesn´t sound like me at all.”_ Loki jokingly took and offence.

 

_“Don´t worry, I managed to steal the treaty and hid it in your room. You got in a big trouble because of that and no one believed the little trickster when you told them it wasn´t you.”_

 

A sign of realization lit up Liesmith´s face. _“It was you? I always wondered.”_

_“We were probably destined to become enemies.”_ It´s funny how fate works, I thought.

 

_“Your life goal is to cross me on every opportunity, right?”_ Liesmith poured a glass of my wine.

 

_“And deep down you are enjoying it.”_ I stood up and took the glass out of his hand, then went around him to leave the room.

 

_“What makes you think that?”_ He called after me.

 

_“Because I do.”_

 

I finished the wine, leaving him with an answer that could possibly refer to my statement that he is enjoying this as well as I do, or to the fact that I just know everything. That should twist his brain a little bit. I was never quite good at a flirty talk like this, but it should keep him entertained while I will be figuring out his plan.

 

Liesmith was truly surprised by today's encounter, but he also knew that with her, everything is planned. She wanted to make an impression like this, to what end he didn´t know yet. Still, even more questions arose. The fact that she was interested in magic for ones. He didn´t believe her reply at all. Princess had a plan and he would bet it is concerning the Nihilum. Loki knew that Nihilum could pose as a formidable power source, but the more he observed the princess the more he thought there might be more to it. That´s also the main reason why he kept her alive, beside toying with her. He needs to know if Nihilum has even more potential than he previously discovered. The other interesting fact was her dress, apparently, she already found an ally here…

 

My head started to hurt on my way back to the chambers, probably from the lack of sleep. It was only getting worse and worse, so I decided to rest for the remaining part of the day. Sleep caught up with me the second my head touched the pillow.

    When I woke up, the headache was almost unbearable. Soon, I noticed it´s not only my head that hurts but more like the whole body. Slowly, I sat up. _What the hell is happening?_ Sudden urge to cough overcame me and as I withdrew the hand that was covering my mouth I saw huge spots of dark liquid on the palm of my hand,… then it hit me. Poison.

 

* * *

A/N

And who is the poisoner? We will find out in the next chapter:P.


	7. Trust no one

_Alright, alright, alright, let´s not panic._ I took a deep breath, allowing myself to think. My guess was that Lady Tove had someone lace my wine with a something little bit extra. That means she might also bribe the physicians, the guards… _Am I overthinking this?_ I forced my aching body out of the bed and to the doors. As soon as I opened, the guards stopped me in my tracks.

 

_“M´lady, you are not permitted to leave your rooms during the night.”_ One of them said.

 

_“I need to see a physician, now.”_ I ordered with as much authority as I was able to muster.

 

_“Yes, of course. Please return to Your room and I will see it done.”_ Guard to my right was apparently a terrible liar.

 

I closed to door again, silently listening if I hear receding footsteps, but the only thing I could hear was a badly covered laughter. So, they are involved too. In the whole castle, there were probably only two individuals I can trust right now. Liesmith and Erebos, my enemies…They both had a chance to kill me in the last 48 hours, but none of them acted upon it. But where should I go? It was like choosing a style of your own execution. You don´t want to do it, but it might save you a lot of pain. At this moment, Liesmith seemed as a lesser torment, with him, at least I still got some ground under my feet. Now, the last problem left to solve was how to get out of this room, then an idea struck me. My afternoon reading came to the mind… I might be a little bit rusty, but I should be able to at least form one measly illusion to distract the guards. With a lot of effort, a copy of myself was now standing next to me, it wasn´t a perfect twin, yet still, it will serve its purpose. This feat weakened me greatly, but there was no turning back now. As my illusion suddenly barged through the doors and flee around the guards, I could hear their heavy boots immediately following in pursuit. I felt like dying, but I forced my legs to pick up the pace and move to the distant wing of the palace where Liesmith´s chambers were located. Fortunately, I spend a great portion of the day by wandering around the place, so it was easy to find the right way. It was also almost a miracle, but I managed to avoid all other guards on my way. As I approached Liesmith´s door, I was on my last breath. My fingers knocked on the entrance, but unsurprisingly, were left without a reply. Desperate, I continued until a certain very angry raven-haired god answered the door. When he spotted me, his features couldn´t hide the surprise.

 

_“Princess?”_ He asked, focusing on the figure standing in front of his chambers. She was only wearing the nightgown, her breath ragged as if she was running just a while ago.

 

Without a word, I pushed my way in, ignoring all of the surroundings except the big armchair placed under the window. My body, now almost being eaten alive by pain, collapsed on to it.

 

_“I´m very sorry about this, but…”_ I left the end of the sentence unfinished. What could I have said? …but you are my only hope? …but I had no one else to turn to? No, that wasn´t my style. My focus was now solely fixed on staying calm and collected.

 

Liesmith turned around while closing the door. This late-night visit baffled him. _What does she want?_ Barging into his bedroom wearing only nightgown… _Was she trying to seduce him? Was this another game?_ Then he noticed her slightly trembling limbs, but given the temperature of his quarters, it could be also caused by that.

 

_“Sure, help yourself in…”_ Loki stated sarcastically. _“To what do I owe this pleasure? Normally, women tend to seek me in the middle of the night for one clear reason, but with you, Your Highness, that seems very unlikely, or am I wrong?”_ He moved a little bit closer with a smug grin on his lips.

 

_“They stop by for a game of chess? How surprising.”_ I repaid him with a sarcastic tone. _“No Liesmith, I didn´t come to seek your other services, I came here because I have been poisoned.”_

 

Loki was taken aback by her explanation. Was this another trick? _“Pardon me, but you seem awfully lively for a walking corpse.”_

 

_“Practice makes perfect, this is not my first time being poisoned. By the symptoms, this is not a fast-effective poison, rather more painful. I would establish I still have around four to six hours.”_ Another wave of an uncontrollable cough seized me, accompanied with more blood left on my hand.

 

Silver-tongued god was for once left speechless. This was the first time ever someone came to him expecting he would save their life.

 

I watched Liesmith as his smug smile faded away from his lips. He was now clearly deep in his thoughts. Is he contemplating if is it worth to save me? I cast my eyes to the floor. _“Please.”_

 

_“You owe me, princess.”_ He finally said.

 

_“Nothing in life comes without a price I guess.”_ Yeah… I owed, I was owned…

 

Loki crossed the distance between them and placed his palm on her forehead. Healing wasn´t really his specialty, but that doesn´t mean he wasn´t capable of doing it. Now, he could feel the poison running through her veins, causing pain and slow deterioration of the body. For a moment, he let his mind wandered to her thoughts in a vain hope he might be able to get something useful out of this ordeal in her weakened state, but the only thing he saw was a everlasting darkness.

 

I suspected he might try something else besides healing and the moment he reached my mind I knew it was wise to be prepared. He was cunning, I would do the same if the opportunity presented itself.

 

_“Don´t you even think about it.”_ I murmured while concentrating on emptying my mind completely.

 

Liesmith grunted instead of a proper answer and focused more on the healing part. It still took around an hour to complete his task, but I could tell it was working. When he finally stepped back, all the traces of the previous pain were gone, still leaving my body completely weak. I was pretty sure that standing wasn´t an option right now, so I remained seated.

 

_“Thank you.”_

 

Liesmith took a chair in front of me, completely ignoring my display of gratitude. _“Now… how about you tell me what is your plan.”_

 

Loki wasn´t wasting any time. With the princess currently rendered quite vulnerable, it was his moment to strike. After all, he just saved her life.

_“You are trying to bend the rules, this is not going to work.”_ Weary smiled formed itself on my lips.

 

_“We never stated what the rules are.”_ He refused to give up.

 

_“You promised me that you would answer me one question truthfully, so if I ask you right now, what is your endgame… Would you tell me?”_

_“No.”_ Liesmith admitted.

_“See? The rules are established even though we never explicitly discussed them. Ask something else.”_

 

Loki thought about his next question. Something not that obvious which could give him an inside into her mind. _“Fine. Why did you never dethrone your brother? I think it would be a rather simple task for you.”_

 

_“Yes… I can see why are you curious about that, given your own circumstances. The truth is, a man like you will always seek power and status to back it up. But to be honest, I think the only thing that matters is the power. And in your case, you are too attached to your family history. You never really needed the throne of Asgard, it was more like a validation of your skills for you.”_ I carefully answered, knowing too well that he will get caught on the latter part of my statement.

 

_“You dare to presume you know something about my motivation?”_ Liesmith fell into the trap, making the discussion about himself again.

 

_“Well, some aspects of your personality are so easily readable that my answer just has to be yes.”_ I taunted him.

 

_“Then perhaps, next time I won´t be as willing as today to save your life. Would you see that coming?”_ Loki retaliated.

 

_“Perhaps not. Yet, you want to portrait yourself as a villain, but for me, you fall in the grey area in between.”_

_“Meaning?”_ He raised an eyebrow.

 

_“Meaning that we both know that there are monsters far more powerful than both of us. It all boils down to that we don´t want to become monsters ourselves, we want to survive.”_ I explained.

 

_“I think you are wrong… or lying, we both want so much more than just a simple survival.”_

_“You finally start to catch up.”_ My little teasing brought a smirk to his face.

 

_“I caught up already, princess. That´s how I can tell that you know more about Nihilum, there is some secret you don´t want me to discover, or am I wrong? Perhaps, you want to break your family´s legacy which bounds you to a simple protection. No, my guess is you want to use it.”_ Loki decided to move into offensive.

 

I had to fight myself not to let any emotion escape, which could validate his assumptions. After all, it _was_ my plan to use the Nihilum, when the time is right. But if anyone finds out its true powers before that… infinity stones would suddenly look like some useless pieces of rock. I carefully chose my next words. The only ace I now had was the fact that this secret wasn´t just lying around to be discovered, I spend decades erasing the few sources which could provide the guidelines, just to be sure no one else ever figures as much as I did.

_“You are getting paranoid with age. If I wanted to use it, I would have already done it, why wait? Or you think that I lost the war with you and send Nihilum away for some greater scheme?”_

_“With you, I don´t know what to think. But allow me a question. If you have no desire to use it, why not join me instead? We would make great allies.”_ Loki couldn´t be sure if the war was somehow important for her plans, but he was convinced that he was right about Nihilum.

 

_“You can´t be trusted, but neither can I. It would be really time-consuming for both of us, looking for the daggers in our backs all the time.”_ I quickly dismissed his idea.

_“I prefer to stab the heart, that way, the victory is sure.”_

 

* * *

 

A/N

This chapter pretty much serves as a small development of the relationship between Reader and Loki. Although, they might seem on better terms now, don´t forget that their desires do not exactly line up (or are they?:P *pun intended*).

 

XOXO


	8. The game

I was still sitting in the Liesmith´s chambers. Our little conversation died out a while ago, now we both just sat there, trying to guess what the other one was thinking about.

 

 _“Do you know who tried to poison you?”_ Loki broke the silence.

 

 _“I have my suspicions.”_ I confirmed.

 

 _“And do you already have a plan for a retaliation?”_ He asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

 

 _“Have we met?”_ My tone playful.

 

 _“Fair enough. Keep the bloodshed at the minimum.”_ Liesmith replied in a similar manner.

 

 _“Don´t worry, there are more ways how to destroy someone other than a physical violence. But it´s true that usually when there was an attempt on my life, my brother was the one dealing with that poor soul who was trying to kill me.”_ Of course, this remark wasn´t without a reason, I saw a chance and I give it a go.

 

 _“So, you used your brother to do the dirty work than?”_ My companion took the bait.

 

 _“More or less. I am still his little sister. How would Thor react if someone tried to assassinate you?”_ I asked.

 

 _“I can take care of myself, but…”_ He raised one of his fingers. _“but if such an incident occurred, I can imagine he would be very loud about it and he would also probably flip over a few innocent tables and smash a glass or two.”_

 

 _“Yes, that sounds accurate. It´s essential for us to have someone like our brothers. They keep us from going down the path of no return. Even though, sometimes I can´t believe they are still defending us after all what we have done.”_ I took the blanket which was lying on the armrest of the chair I was sitting on.

 

 _“Are you becoming sentimental?”_ Loki wasn´t sure about the sudden shift in the mood. _Was she playing? Or are tonight´s event getting more to her than she initially let on?_ After all, she had to come to her enemy for a help, that must have taken a toll on her pride.

 

 _“I am tired, forget it.”_ I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders. A small subtle act of vulnerability should go a long way.

 

God of lies eyed her one more time. She really did look tired, wrapped in a warm quilt, her expression a little bit lost. Suddenly, he felt an unfamiliar stink of empathy. _“You can talk to him if you want. You should also give him some guidance about your realm, things are getting pretty heated there.”_

 

 _“Do you take me for someone who has a need to go running to my brother when things go rough?”_ I snapped.

 

This abrupt reaction gave Loki a confirmation, she wasn´t playing. _“Tonight? I would have to go with a yes.”_ Liesmith stood up and went to one of the drawers, he shuffled through things until he found the device he was looking for. _“Here, you can use this. You can only dial your brother once, so don´t even think about using it for something else.”_ He tossed the piece of tech into my lap.

 

I stood up to, clutching the cold material. _“Thank you.”_ I said with a quiet voice while avoiding his gaze. _“I should go.”_ With that, I went to the door. _“Good night.”_

 

After exiting the room I got back to the corridor. A big smile was now plastered across my face. It was so easy to manipulate the situation to my advantage. When I got back to my chambers, guards were still gone, probably searching for me around the palace. I dropped the blanket I took from the Liesmith´s room and dialled my brother.

 

 _“(Y/N), is it you? Are you alright?”_ A hologram of my brother popped up before me.

 

 _“Yes. We need to talk.”_ My commanding voice shut him up. _“How can you be so stupid? Did you tell one of your whores about Nihilum? You are thousand years old and still, you haven´t learned anything? Was the fuck worth it? Thanks to your big mouth, Erebos has it now.”_

 

_“What?”_

_“You heard me. Do something so reckless again and there will be consequences. Now, listen to me carefully and do everything I tell you.”_ Anger was seeping through my voice, my brother´s indiscretion really went too far this time.

 

I proceeded to give him all the instructions. He wrote all the names of people who owed me, whose secrets I knew, people who couldn´t afford to double-cross me. I need everyone looking out for the Nihilum, eyes, and ears outside to keep taps on Erebos and his movements. After that, I also advised him on the pressing matters of our realm, which should keep it from falling apart for the time being. When the call ended, I decided to smash the device and drown it in the water, just for the fear there might be a memory card recording the conversation. Only after that, I could finally go rest.

 

In the morning, I got ready for the day and I also packed the blanket from Liesmith´s room. After all, I never do anything without a reason. As I stepped outside the room, guards almost jumped upon seeing me.

 

 _“Gentlemen? Your loyalties apparently lie with a wrong mistress. But don´t worry, I will not tell the king anything about your recent missteps. Nevertheless, you should consider your options more carefully, don´t take every offer when you don´t know the other´s side counterproposal.”_ I took the diamond neckless I wore. _“Whatever she pays, I can always pay double and more.”_ I pressed the priceless jewellery into the hand of one of the guards.

 

They looked truly dumbstruck. It took them a moment to regain their composure. _“Apologies, highness. Next time she comes to us with an offer, we will inform you right away.”_

 

That was another part of confirmation I needed. Later, my steps led me to a familiar place where I met lady Tove and other court ladies earlier. Unsurprisingly, they were having a breakfast on the same terrace as the last time.

 

 _“Ladies, I bit you all good morning.”_ Without any invitation, I sat on the free chair. Lady Tove looked like she just saw a ghost.

 

The ladies carried their conversation as we began to eat. Same as the last time, I waited until it was only me and lady Tove alone again. I went to the small table with wine and poured two glasses after that, I handed her one while keeping the other. She was piercing me through with her gaze while downing her goblet immediately. I put the wine to my lips, but then I put it down again, smiling.

 

 _“How does it taste?”_ I asked.

 

She noticed that I haven´t drink my glass and a panicked look settled on her face. _“Did you…?”_

 

 _“Did I just poison you? You can´t be really sure… yet.”_ For a moment, I let her drown in the fear but then I finished my glass too. _“But you should definitely be more careful with what you drink, or who you decide to cross.”_

 

 _“You have no power here.”_ She snapped.

 

 _“Is that so? We will see about it. In the meantime, would you be so kind and return this to the king?”_ I gave her the package.

 

She tore the paper, revealing the blanket I took from Loki´s chambers last night. _“What is this?”_

 

 _“I took it by an accident, you know how cold king´s chambers can get during the night.”_ An innocent smile playing on my lips. Normally, I would never use such an implication nor would I want anyone to think that I am that kind of a woman, but with Tove, it was more than safe. She couldn´t tell anyone I spend a night at Loki´s room or about the questions which arose with such a knowledge, it would only make her look weak, unwanted.

 

 _“You bitch.”_ She cracked. I knew this will upset her greatly. She derived the power she held from the position which Loki granted her. Even though she might rationalize that nothing happened between me and Loki a small seed of doubt was already planted.

 

 _“Be smart, don´t start a fight with someone you can´t beat. Have a pleasant day, lady Tove.”_ With that, I stood up, ready to leave.

 

It was time to make some new allies.

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Hello dear readers,

things are getting more and more heated:P. Just a heads up, after seeing Infinity wars, I would like to point out that right now the story is pre-infinity wars, but I would like eventually to catch up with the events of the movie (of course with some adjustments).

 

XOXO


	9. The god of love

Loki was pacing around his room, annoyed beyond any limits. Lady Tove was still screaming at him, accusing him of things he didn´t commit. Normally, she would never behave like this, but one little conversation with the princess managed to push her over the edge. She stormed into his private rooms, clearly not wanting to make a scene in front of an audience. He was thinking what could have sparked this feud, then suddenly, an idea struck him.

 

_“Did you try to poison her?”_ He swiftly turned to face his mistress.

_“I… I only did it for you. To help you solve this trouble.”_ Lady Tove didn´t even try to lie to him.

 

_“You doltish woman, you have no idea about anything. I still need her alive.”_ Liesmith was getting even angrier. _“Don´t ever presume you know what I want! And don´t you ever dare to act behind my back again. Do you understand? Now, go away and never bother me with this nonsense again.”_

 

His furious demeanour was enough to scare Lady Tove, she lowered her head, tears rolling down on her cheeks. _“Yes, my lord. Forgive me.”_ She quietly backed out of the king´s chambers, leaving Loki alone.

 

Raven-haired god picked the blanket from the floor, which Tove has thrown on him earlier. He remembered. Princess took it from his room the previous night. She knew that if she plants a seed of doubt into Tove's head it would eat her alive and Loki himself was just a collateral damage in her scheme. This confirmed all of his suspicions. Everything she did, everything she said was carefully planned. Thinking back at their conversation, he realized that even though he asked her a few questions, she quickly managed to turn the tide around and made him talk about himself. She played him and he fell for it like an old fool. She was different than anyone he has ever met, he keeps underestimating her, a mistake many have probably done and paid for it long before him. A fit of anger surged through his body as he tossed the quilt across the room, knocking down a vase in the process. _This ends now._ He has to even the scores.

 

_How should he proceed?_ Then it struck him. After all, there was one thing he learned yesterday. She needs her brother, she wanted to contact him. The question why wasn´t that important, he just needs to take out her brother. It all made sense. If it was him, it would be only logical for his enemies to go after Thor, unwilling to admit, he too still had a soft spot for his foolish brother. An elaborate plan started to form in Loki´s mind.

 

-

 

The last few days were going great so far. Every day, I went out to stroll around the palace, meeting new people and making new friends. It was rather easy, Liesmith´s court was same as any other. Lot of gambling, drinking, and gossiping. It wasn´t hard to navigate around, collecting information and favours. Erebos, Loki and even lady Tove left me alone, so there was nothing holding me back. I could only presume that the big showdown between Liesmith and lady Tove already took place since rumour has it she was spotted running from his chambers in tears. A small smile was now playing on my lips, just the idea of how a certain king got scolded as a mere child was amusing. He was probably enraged by getting dragged into this, but that wasn´t my problem at the moment. Liesmith has prepared great festivities for tonight, so the whole court was buzzing with an anticipation. I decided to put an extra effort into choosing the outfit and accessories. Finally, I settled on a long black flowing gown with a silver embroidery and a diamond tiara. As my gaze fell on the mirror before me, I had to admit, this attire will probably again stand out among the colourful sea of gowns other ladies usually wore for such an occasion. My guards escorted me to the main hall, where I took the seat next to Liesmith. A big smirk was playing on his lips, a sign that other people would interpret merely as a good mood, but the sight of his eyes it unsettled me greatly. _They were smiling too_ , he definitely was up to something. The feast itself went without any disturbing events, but in the second I finally managed to relax a little bit, Liesmith stood up from his chair with a glass in his hand.

 

_“Today, it is my great pleasure to share with you a happy announcement. As you all might know, this court has been blessed by the opportunity of hosting her royal highness, princess (Y/N). That is why it is my privilege to share the news from her own realm with all of you tonight. His Majesty, the king, princess´s own beloved brother has been engaged to lady Aallotar Dannica. Let´s all raise our glasses and toast for their happiness.”_ He finished his sentence by raising the glass.

 

I could feel the blood draining in my veins. I knew exactly who this alleged fiancée was. She was the youngest daughter of the noble family which, put it mildly, despised me beyond any measure. _How did this happen? How do I stop this?_ All I wanted to do was to throw a tantrum in the Liesmith´s way, but I forced myself to summon a charming smile as I joined the toast.

 

It was probably a good show that could fool everyone, everyone except Liesmith. He saw the dark storm raging in her eyes, she was furious.

 

As soon as it was socially acceptable, I excused myself, but my steps didn´t lead to my chambers, instead, I instructed my guards to escort me to the Liesmith´s private rooms. It was easy to persuade them, that me and the king have a meeting concerning the impending wedding after the feast. For a first few minutes, I just paced around the room before collapsing behind his desk. I needed to calm down before I confront him about his recent actions, then my gaze fell upon the table before me. There were books, scrolls, papers and hand-written notes scattered all around. With a surge of curiosity, I quickly went through all of them. Most of them were written in foreign languages, well, unfortunately for Liesmith, I was around for some hundreds of years and I managed to get fluent in a language or two along the way. Their main concern was infinity stones and space stone in particular. That baffled me, I thought the space stone was destroyed when the Asgard fell. _Or… could the truth be different?_ A sudden noise interrupted my thoughts, quickly, I stood up and turned to the window behind me.

 

_“Princess? In my chambers after sunset again? Someone might misinterpret your late-night visits for a growing affection.”_ Loki entered the room

 

Slowly, I turned around. _“Growing affection? You must know all about it since you became the god of love all of sudden. Or are you just a common matchmaker?”_

 

_“Are you impressed? Our last talk gave me an idea. Marrying off your brother turned out to be a simple yet effective strategy. Your future sister-in-law is from the family of enemies, so it means there will be a potential spy around your brother all the time. And let´s not forget the fact what their union might bring in the future, your nephews and nieces. With every child, the gap between the throne and you grows and your influence over your brother weakness. Who will he protect? You or his own children? It might have been easy for you to dethrone your brother if you needed to before, but are you going to be capable of getting rid of his little ones?”_

 

I couldn´t really contain my anger anymore. With one swift move, I swept off all the things from the table in front of me. Of course, it was also a perfect opportunity how to cover any track I might have left since there was a great chance that I displaced his notes and books when I went through them.

 

Liesmith witnessed her sudden fit of rage, he did really manage to upset her this time. Such a delightful sight. Her temper wasn´t as poise after all. It reminded him a little bit of his own tantrums.

 

I closed the distance between us. _“Do you even comprehend the consequences of your actions?”_

 

_“I do. Obviously, I struck a nerve, or shall I say… stabbed the heart?”_ He smirked at his word-play.

_“And where is your victory then? Am I dying by your feet? No. You drew the first blood, cutting away the last thing holding me back, nothing more. I doubt you even know where my heart lies, aim better next time, Liesmith, or you might find yourself in the ranks of the defeated.”_ I recalled what he said in one of our previous conversations. He wasn´t the only one paying attention after all.

 

After that, I went past him and out of his chambers. Loki stayed for a while, contemplating her words. Although she denied it, he knew that he, at least, managed to graze the heart.

 

It was clear to me, that I lost this round as I came back to the main hall. The party was slowly dying, as the last few couples danced on the dancefloor and drunken lords have being escorted back to their living quarters. My eyes scanned the room until they found what they have been looking for. I strolled towards the direction my gaze was set on. On the way, I picked a glass of wine to calm the nerves before reaching my destination.

 

_“My lord, how about a dance?”_ I stooped before Erebos, who was still present at the feast.

 

_“My dear highness, with pleasure.”_ A vile smile spread across his lips as he took my hand and led me to the center of the dancefloor.

 

_“Don´t.”_ I stopped him before he could make any remarks concerning the recent event. I needed an information, not his dull comments.

 

_“Do you have any idea, why Liesmith would be interested in infinity stones?”_ I asked.

 

Erebos features grew a little bit darker. _“There is a rumour a certain man with dark motives is searching for them, his name is Thanos.”_

_“You asked me to help you find out what is Liesmith planning, well, it seems it has a link to Thanos and infinity stones. Can you get more information?”_ Deliberately, I decided to omit the part about the space stone.

 

_“I will see what I can do. Good job.”_ Erebos answered.

 

_“Excellent, don´t forget about our deal.”_ I was more than eager to finally push his hands away from me. _“Good night.”_

 

I didn´t wait for his response as I turned around, ready to leave. My growing suspicion was that the space stone was never destroyed on the Asgard. On the contrary, Liesmith has it. And he doesn´t want anyone else to know about it. _Well, he is in for a surprise._

* * *

 

A/N

Hello dear reader,

 

I hope that you are having a great day. In the light of a recent royal wedding, how about we throw one too?:P In the next chapter, it is going to be explained a little more why the brother agreed to the wedding and we will also definitely see how the princess will handle the Liesmith´s secret.

 

XOXO


	10. Hot&Cold

As the day of the wedding drew closer I realized there is no stopping to this event. Liesmith so generously offered to host the celebration, but I suspected he just really wanted to bask in his victory and parade it in front of my face. He made sure I wasn´t able to contact my brother, not that I haven´t tried, but he was smart. He knew that it is impossible to prevent me from reaching out, so he made sure my brother was guarded all the time, not even a note could be slipped around guards without him knowing, even more Loki also forbade me to see my brother before the actual ceremony. Oh, how was he paranoid that I would somehow manage to pull the plug on this whole thing, but fortunately for him, it was really impossible this time. In his mocking manner, he offered me to oversee the wedding preparation to rub the salt in the wound even deeper. To his surprise, I agreed. If he wants to sell my brother as a horse on the market, I will make sure he will pay the price. It would be an understatement, that I went overboard…. flowers, food, wine, musicians… I didn´t care about the cost of anything, unbeknownst to Liesmith, he will buy whatever my heart desires. The only consolation I could have now was his face when he finally sees the bill. As the highest-ranking royalty and the host, it was only natural that it was Loki´s duty to be my escort for the day. It was my personal mission to show him that he can´t toy with me as he pleases. When it came to choose the gown I would be wearing, I decided to make a statement he would surely understand. The bride wasn´t my friend nor I cared about her feelings, so I wasn´t afraid to select an outfit that would upstage anyone present. Of course, the colours matter and I chose the red one. It is a contrast to the green… and it is also Thor´s favourite colour.

 

When the faithful day ultimately came, I got ready and went to supervise the last-minute preparation. After all, I was the so-called wedding planner for this charade and anything less than perfect wasn´t an option. There probably wasn´t a wedding in the history of the universe as lavish as this one, but I wasn´t known for my modesty anyway. The time finally came for Liesmith to find me and accompany me to my seat. We met on the terrace, I was already on my third glass of wine, looking down at the growing crowds.

_“Your Highness?”_ Loki went to stand by my side.

 

I gave him a side glance. As usual, he was looking annoyingly handsome. _“If it isn´t His majesty, the icicle…”_ Alright, maybe it was my fifth glass. I was drowning my sorrow and anger.

 

He gave me a questioning look with a raised eyebrow, then he took the glass from my hand. _“You started the celebration early.”_

_“It´s my brother´s big day after all.”_ I turned to face him. _“Let´s play a game.”_

 

Loki was once again surprised by her attitude. She looked stunning in the red gown, although he didn´t particularly like its colour. _“A game?”_

 

_“Tell me… What am I thinking about?”_

_“You are imagining many ways in which you would be able to kill me?”_ Liesmith guessed.

 

_“Incorrect.”_ A small chuckle escaped my lips.

_“Then tell me.”_ He surrendered.

_“I was thinking how to get my wine back.”_ My smile changed into a laughter when I saw his dumfound expression.

 

Loki was expecting her to be sullen and sour in the face of her loss, but she probably never was what he expected. _“Fair enough. What am I thinking about?”_

_“You like my dress.”_ I answered.

 

_“And how did you come up with that assumption?”_ He leaned on the railing, curious.

_“I followed your eyes, you fool.”_ I rested my elbows next to him and looked away again.

_“Well, you can´t blame me. Your soon-to-be sister-in-law will become queen soon, yet you look like one already.”_

_“Flattery? Really Liesmith? That is your new strategy? No. I know that I will never be a queen.”_ Before he could reply, I turned my gaze back at him. _“I will become so much more.”_

 

With this little statement, I gave him a riddle to think about. _“We should go.”_ I straightened my back again.

 

Loki left her finale declaration without an answer. Instead, he offered his arm to escort her down to the hall. As we were passing through the corridors, he couldn´t help himself but look around. Everything in the palace looked like straight from the fantasy world.

 

_“You did a good job.”_ Liesmith said in a hushed voice.

 

_“Only thanks to your generous contribution.”_ I smirked back at him.

 

_“A contribution?”_ He appeared puzzled.

 

_“Well, you are the host. It wasn´t hard to persuade merchants and workers to put everything onto your account.”_ It was time to let him know how much exactly he has donated to this event.

 

_“What?”_

_“Let me know after you receive the final bill. Don´t hesitate to ask for a little financial aid, given how much you spend on this day.”_

 

Now it became clear to Loki why she was so eager to take care of this event. _“I should have seen this coming, right?”_

_“You know how petty I can be, so yes, you should have been more careful.”_ I still felt a little light-headed from the wine.

 

The ceremony itself took place without any glitch. My brother´s bride was a very pretty girl, unfortunately for me, she didn´t look too dumb. My only hope now was, that my foolish brother won´t fall in love with her, it would be a disaster. I took solace in the knowledge that his usual affections blow hot in one minute, only to grow cold in the second. After the initial nuptials, it was the time for the feast and dance. There still wasn´t time to speak to my brother, since it was a custom he and his bride would do the first dance. I sipped from my goblet as I watched them dance, slowly joined by other couples.

 

_“Should we dance?”_ Unexpectedly, Liesmith took his duty as my escort very seriously.

 

I finished the glass I was holding. _“Alright.”_

 

He took my hand, his own was cold as an ice. He really was a living icicle.

 

_“So, are you feeling inspired? I heard women get emotional during weddings. Those already married reminiscences about the day when they still felt something other than resentment for their husbands and those unmarried eagerly awaiting their turn.”_ Liesmith started with his mocking tone.

 

An idea has crossed my mind. He feels so comfortable now, on top of the world. It would be a shame if someone should knock him down from his high horse. 

 

_“Well, of course. But I am afraid there is no man with a ring and rock big enough to spark my interest.”_ I lured him in into this conversation.

 

_“How materialistic of you, you only care about diamonds.”_ Liesmith smirked.

_“On the contrary, everyone with a fortunate large enough can get a diamond. I was talking about a much more precious stone.”_ I was carefully observing his reaction.

 

Loki became alerted. She wasn´t talking about some stupid ring anymore, she was hinting at something. _“And what kind of stone would that be?”_

_“There are six of them apparently. One of them presumed to be destroyed, but it came to my attention recently that it was just a lie, right Liesmith?”_ I strongly emphasized the noun “lie” and the “lie” in the Liesmith.

 

Suddenly, the grip on my hand became too tight, almost breaking my fingers. Loki´s eyes grew dark with an anger. This whole day, we were both playing, pretending to be something else, like actors on the stage. That all came crashing down with my statement.

 

_“It hurts.”_ I unsuccessfully tried to wriggle my arm out of his grasp.

 

Liesmith wasn´t listening, his mind was overwhelmed. _How did she find out? How much does she know?_ There were a thousand questions and even more possible scenarios running through his brain. It was all just fun, until now.

 

The pain was only getting worse by every passing second. If it was only up to me, I would stamp on his leg to get his attention back, but there were too many people around and I didn´t want to make a scene. It was the first time ever Liesmith truly scared me. Maybe I went too far this time, sentencing myself to the death without even knowing.

 

_“Loki.”_ I whispered again, my voice filled with an urgency.

 

Finally, he snapped back to the reality as he looked down into my frightened eyes. He let go of my hand, every centimetre where his fingers touched my skin was now covered with a frostbite. I was ready to flee the scene, but he caught my elbow, preventing me from leaving.

_“We need to talk.”_ He said with a cold voice, dragging me across the dance floor, away from the guests and servants.

 

The last thing I wanted was to be left alone with him now, but there was no escaping from his iron grip. He practically kicked the door to his rooms open and threw me inside, then he slammed them shut behind him. This time, I was truly lost on words. If he decides to get physical, there is not much I could do, I was never really a “fighter” type of a girl, not since I found out that I can deal far more damage with my words than my fists.

 

_“Sit.”_ He snapped at me while pointing on the chair.

 

Loki had to control himself, his own rage was slowly getting the best of him, the only thing he wanted to do was to demolish the room and kill her and he knew he would have to do it if it´s proven that she works with Thanos. After this scene, he can´t really pretend that what she said wasn´t the truth.

 

I didn´t even try to talk back to him, I sat down on the chair, never letting my eyes off him for the fear he would strike the second my gaze leaves his body.

_“Are you working with Thanos?”_ Liesmith was now towering over me.

 

What? Of course not. That´s what I wanted to say, but no sound was coming out of my mouth. This situation turned so ugly so fast that I was left completely shocked and without an ability to even speak my mind to defend myself.

 

Unfortunately, Loki took my silence for a confession, so he summoned a dagger to his hand. As for me, at this moment I was probably having a full-blown panic attack. Before he could strike a managed to utter a weak: _“Stop.”_

_“Any last words?”_ Liesmith asked but stopped his movements.

 

_“Get me something to drink.”_

_“What?”_ Liesmith couldn´t understand her request.

_“You scared me to death, you old fool.”_ Slowly, my voice was getting back to me as I concentrated on the breathing.

 

Loki didn´t know why he obliged to her demand, but he pressed a glass in her arm.

 

I took it with my uninjured hand and downed its content at once.

_“Of course, I am not working for Thanos.”_ I finally managed to get this crucial sentence past my lips.

 

_“You hesitated.”_ Loki was still holding the dagger in his hand. She played him so many times that he was pretty sure she could talk her way out of the hell if needed.

 

_“I thought you are going to kill me.”_ I knew what he was thinking about. I lied to him and bluffed so many times that there is no way he could tell if I am lying right now.

 

_“I am still going to.”_ He wasn´t convinced yet.

 

_“Do you think I would tell you about the stone if I was working for Thanos? What logic would that be? There would be no goal to be achieved by this.”_ I needed him to see my point of view.

_“Then why did you tell me about it?”_

_“You sold my brother to my enemies. I drank a lot and I was angry, so angry. I wanted to see you squirm a little bit, to throw you off balance. I didn´t… I couldn´t anticipate you would react like this. Infinity stones were never a thing I would go after, they hold no meaning for me.”_ I admitted.

 

_“I don´t believe you, liar.”_ Loki´s fingers tightened the grip on the dagger as he waged her words.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Good morning/afternoon/night my dear reader,

 

DRAMAAA and a cliffhanger! I decided to spice things up a little bit in this chapter:P. The reader is always quite on top of things, but when faced with a Loki´s raw rage, I think everyone would be a little bit “upset” at least.  I also thought it would be interesting to show different dynamics between them and their different sides, a contrast to their usual bickering. Share with me your thoughts


	11. Nothing lasts forever

 

I felt the cold blade pressed against the skin of my neck. _This really is the end_. I pushed him too far. It wasn´t in my nature to make mistakes, but this time, I made a big one, a faithful one. I got carried away, I got sloppy, I should have kept my mouth shut just this once, I should have waited for Erebos to get me more information. Apparently, there was a bigger picture, something that I didn´t see. Should have, could have, would have… It was all pointless now.

 

Loki´s hand stopped. He couldn´t explain why. It would be so easy to kill her, one little slice and it will be all over, but for some reason, as he looked down at her, he couldn´t bring himself to do it. With a sigh, he dropped his hand a let the dagger disappear.

 

_“Why?”_ I asked and searched his eyes for an answer. According to me, there was no reasonable explanation for his hesitation, yet, he decided to spare my life.

 

_“Why?”_ Loki repeated her question. Why? He also was searching for a justifiable reason for his actions. _“Because I would not side with Thanos on this one.”_

 

_“And you think we are too similar, so similar that I would make the same choice as you.”_ I understood where he was coming from. Liesmith was trying to imply that we are the same in nature, so logically, I wouldn´t do it when he himself was against Thanos.

 

_“Yes.”_ Raven-haired god collapsed on the chair across me.

 

_“Then tell me, what is Thanos planning?”_

_“You don´t know? Very well.”_ Loki proceeded to explain what was Thanos´s end game. Using infinity stones to wipe half of the universe to, in some twisted sense, restore the balance.

 

_“He wants to slaughter half of the living? Completely randomly?”_ The weight of this revelation was slowly sinking down on me. One of my hands clutched my forehead. _“I understand now, you think Nihilum might give you an edge against Thanos.”_

 

_“Yes, space stone is only one out of six. If he gets more than one, I am afraid he would become too powerful. I searched for an artefact strong enough to give us an advantage if that ever come to be.”_

_“It won´t work as you think.”_ Of course, the energy Nihilum possessed was immense, but it wasn´t a seventh infinity stone. Loki only heard about it, he never had a chance to examine it the same as Erebos or me for example. It would become clear to him after, that Nihilum can´t be used like this.

_“Yet I am pretty sure you know how to use it.”_ Loki was convinced that she knew how to exploit its powers, she just wasn´t very keen on sharing.

 

_“Yes, I know and I am the only one in the whole universe who possess such a knowledge.”_ I admitted.

 

_“So, will you help us?”_ Liesmith asked.

 

_“If I have Nihilum back, if there is no other way, no other option… then yes.”_ It was clear to me that if Thanos succeeds there was a great chance I would perish with the billion others. There were no means how to predict who would die and who would live and these odds were not to my liking at all.

 

_“Why are you so afraid of using it? You already had a chance, probably more than one, but still, you are hesitant. What exactly is the price to pay?”_ Loki picked up on her indecisiveness.

 

_“The ultimate one? Not in a common sense, but… I just don´t feel ready. Not yet.”_ I admitted.

 

Loki was puzzled and strangely, he felt an unfamiliar sting of an emotion, which one, he couldn´t place a finger on it. Clearly, she wanted to use it, it was her endgame, but at the same time she wasn´t comfortable with the sacrifice, it would claim from her. He wasn´t so intrigued by something, someone in centuries.

 

I felt vulnerable under his inspecting gaze. This whole conversation, it was honest. We both comprehended how dire the situation was, so we let the guards down, so much so, it was making me feel uncomfortable.

 

I shifted on my seat to chase away the creeping feeling of uneasiness. _“In the meantime, I will help you.”_

 

_“How?”_ Loki watched her as a crease formed on her forehead, this whole exchange was an unfamiliar ground for both of them.

_“Nihilum and infinity stones have lots in common. I spend centuries learning about it, I picked a thing or two about infinity stones in the process. Including the location of some of them.”_

 

He wasn´t even surprised anymore. _“You would share your knowledge?”_

 

_“Well, if Thanos manages to get through with his plan, we are all finished. Let us call it a temporary truce. But you have to promise me something.”_

_“What?”_

 

There was a moment of silence before I spoke again. _“You won´t betray me as long as the truce stands. No games, no secret plans, no tricks.”_

 

He understood what she was asking for. No selfish agendas, no backstabbing. She told him previously that they can´t be allies, because ultimately, one of them would slide back to their old ways, but in a face of the threat so dangerous as Thanos, there was no other way than to cooperate.

 

_“I promise.”_ He didn´t break an eye contact, Loki really meant what he said this time.

 

_“Alright, then you should know two things. First, I keep an extensive research on everything, we should get my notes from my home and go through them. It could take some time, there are centuries of scribbles and discoveries, but I am sure it will worth it. The second thing is… Erebos has Nihilum.”_

_“What? How?”_ Loki was caught off guard.

 

_“He screwed us both over. He told me he will give it back if I help him to get rid of you.”_ I disclosed casually.

 

_“But you don´t trust him.”_ He noted. Nevertheless, he could see the validity of Erebos´s strategy, if someone could be his undoing, it was her.

 

_“Of course not. He is a madman. I already made arrangements to find the Nihilum, but without any success so far. It is vital for us to get it back.”_ There was no point in hiding important facts anymore, not after I discovered why Liesmith was after Nihilum in the first place.

 

_“I will see to it.”_

 

A silence spread between us. I looked down at my arm, blisters have already formed on the injured hand. First, the scare in the shape of a letter “L”, now this right under it. Liesmith was destroying me piece by piece.

 

Loki has followed her gaze. His actions are going to leave another scar on her body. It wasn´t in his nature to apologize, even though now probably was the time to do so.

 

_“I don´t care.”_ I said to the silence.

 

_“What?”_ He was taken aback by her exclamation.

 

_“I don´t care about the scars.”_ I clarified.

 

_“Do you read my mind?”_ It made him nervous how she was always able to tell what exactly he was thinking.

 

I scoffed. _“That would be a nice advantage and it would also make things very boring at the same time, don´t you think?”_

 

_“You are a really weird princess, you know.”_

_“And you are a really weird snowman, what a couple we are.”_ I shot back in a joking manner.

 

Usually, people feared him. Basically, only his brother, Thor, was able to joke around with him at ease. It made Loki relax a little bit. _“You are not afraid of me, aren´t you?”_

 

A weird look settled on her face. _“It hurts my pride to say it, but today I was.”_

 

Loki thought back on his earlier behaviour, temper never was his strong suit. Yet, he had to admire her honesty, it wouldn´t be easy for him to admit something like that. For the first time, he managed to take a glimpse of her true self, or at least, he discovered another layer of her complicated personality. For some reason, it felt like a small victory.

 

_“It´s pathetic, I know.”_ I misinterpreted his silence.

 

_“So, you are not able to read my thoughts after all.”_ A chuckle has escaped his lips.

 

I glanced at him from under my furrowed brows. Sometimes, I could read him like an open book, but then there were situations like this when he truly was an enigma to me. _“We should go back, otherwise Lady Tove might get a wrong idea again.”_

 

_“You managed to work her up pretty badly last time, it was extremely bothersome.”_ Liesmith snickered.

 

If he expects an apology, he is going to wait for the whole eternity, I wasn´t sorry about tampering with his liaisons. _“What do you want me to say? It was so easy, so tempting. I won´t apologize for my actions, that is something I don´t do.”_

 

Loki couldn´t hold back another smile. The exact thought has crossed his mind just moments ago, apparently, they were the same beyond any doubt. _“I would never expect it anyway.”_

 

_“Do you love her?”_ I continued with the topic.

 

_“Do I look like a crazed fool to you? She is just a one way how to pass some time when I´m bored. Why do you ask?”_ He was surprised how personal their conversation suddenly got.

 

_“Charming, you should be a poet. No reason at all, I´m just curious.”_ I answered sarcastically.

 

_“Well, how about you? If we go back to your planet, should I expect to be challenged by one of your lovers?”_ He returned the favour in a joking manner.

 

_“I was engaged, several times actually. Oh, yes… I almost forgot, that might be important. I was engaged to Erebos, many lifetimes ago, but he still might hold the grudges.”_

_“What?”_ Loki didn´t see that one coming.

 

_“My father wanted to marry me off in exchange for a powerful and wealthy new son-in-law. I always managed to wriggle my way out, but with Erebos… I might have hurt his pride back then. I was still very young and my temper was… well… awful. He never talks about it, even though we became allies later on. It actually makes sense why he is so eager to pitch us against each other, he would kill two birds with one stone.”_

_“You should be more cautious, he is dangerous.”_ Loki frowned slightly.

 

_“Are you concerned with my safety Liesmith? It´s a good thing we are both able keep a pace with each other and the development of this situation, you wanted to kill me just an hour ago and now you are worried about my well-being. Other people might find it a bit confusing.”_

 

She was right, only handful of people were ever able to keep up with his changing moods. _“Please, don´t twist it around. You are the only one capable of using Nihilum, that makes you quite priceless.”_

 

_“Are we talking about me or about a new weapon on your desk?”_ I asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

_“You are my new weapon after all.”_ Loki flashed a teasing smile.

 

His remark left me unimpressed. _“Then you should be more careful, it might backfire.”_

 

I looked back on my hand. It wasn´t an internal injury, so I was pretty confident I would be able to repair the skin, at least parts of it. A dim scarlet light shone from my other palm as I simply went with it above the wound. The blisters and redness disappeared, leaving only a long white scar.

 

Loki was silently watching her. It was a rather simple spell, miles away from the spell that would heal a person who was poisoned.

 

_“That is all you can do? You should work on your magic.”_ He remarked critically.

 

_“And you should work on your people skills.”_ I stood up, ready to leave.

 

Today´s events were surprising to say at least. We managed to get from enemies to allies, _temporary allies_ , in less than one afternoon. We went from zero to hundred so fast it made me dizzy, or maybe it was the magic I used. Unbeknownst to me, Loki was thinking the same. He was determined to replay today´s conversation in his mind later on. There is still so much he doesn´t know about her.

* * *

 

A/N

Hello dear reader,

 

It might be the gloomy weather, but I felt super inspired this week, so here is another chapter. We are moving forward with the plot and we also got some background story there. Just to clarify things, using Nihilum won´t kill the person, I have something so much better in store;P. Reader and Loki are also starting to “warm” a little bit towards each other (if it´s even possible in Loki´s case:D). Don´t worry, the mind games and bickering won´t end here. I want to incorporate more of the “funny Loki” in the chapters to come since we all know how precious his humour can be really be.

 

XOXO


	12. Tempting offer

 

As I emerged from Liesmith´s chambers I almost ran into a tall figure standing in front of the doors.

 

_“Brother?”_ I was surprised to see him there.

 

_“What happened? Are you alright?”_ His voice filled with worry.

 

Then his gaze fell on my hand before I even had a chance to hid it. He gripped my forearm and brought it closer for an inspection.

 

_“What is this?”_ He referred to the new scar twisting around my hand.

 

_“Nothing, just a misunderstanding.”_ I ripped my hand from his grasp as I sensed Liesmith approaching us from my back.

 

_“You bastard.”_ My brother muttered, going past me towards Loki.

 

Raven haired god didn´t have to be a genius to figure out what was happening.

_“Well, well, well… If it isn´t the man of the hour. What are you doing here, little king?”_ Loki spoke, intentionally selecting an insult he used on my brother all those years ago, only changing it from “a little prince” to “a little king”.

 

_“I swear I will kill you.”_ My brother took another step towards him. He might have been little and scrawny as a child, but now, he was towering over Liesmith.

 

_“You are more than welcome to try, but we all know how it ended up the last time. You might want to consider go hiding behind your sister´s skirts again.”_ Loki wasn´t intimidated by his physique, although he had to admit that the king was far from the small child he used to be.

 

I grew tired of their bickering and I decided to step in between them, placing my palm on brother´s chest. _“That would be enough of your pissing contest. As for you…”_ I poke my brother´s chest with a finger. _“You have to learn how to control your emotions. And you…”_ I turned to face Liesmith. _“You should learn that sometimes it is wiser to keep your lips sealed.”_

 

_“He hurt you.”_ My brother argued.

_“I miscalculated, that´s all. More important thing is, that Liesmith will help us with Erebos. And I swear, if you even beep about it to anyone, I will make sure that the small council will gut you alive. You will be forever buried in the administration stuff you hate so much. Are we clear?”_ I waged the risks of including my brother in, but me and Liesmith will soon go to our planet and it could be hard to explain what are we doing there. But at the same time, I had no intentions of informing him about the infinity stone´s problem.

 

_“I understand.”_ He said in a low voice, looking like a puppy caught in the act of misbehaving. He knew that he really messed up with the whole Nihilum fiasco.

 

_“Good. Now, let´s head back.”_ I took the lead.

 

Liesmith was motionlessly watching her going away as the little king stayed behind with him too.

 

_“I see how you are looking at her.”_ Voice sounded beside him.

 

Loki snapped back to the reality, chasing away all the thoughts that had just crossed his mind. Lazily, his gaze fell on the little king, he truly reminded him of Thor. Lots of muscles, not that much of a brain. But his eyes were different than Thor´s, they were full of endless hate and loathing. _“Really, and what do you see, little king?”_

 

_“You…”_ Her brother started but apparently changed his mind as the first syllable left his lips. _“You should stay away from her.”_ After that, he turned around and went the same way as his sister.

 

Loki followed him soon after, re-joining the celebrations for the rest of the day. There was no other chance to speak with the princess since she soon excused herself and withdraw back to her chambers. So, Loki just quietly sat there, watching the guests while deep in his own thoughts.

 

Today´s events took a toll on me and I felt immensely tired. There still was a lot to think about, but my mind was clouded with a fatigue. For some reason, I felt relieved and a little bit confused by our alliance. Liesmith will definitely prove to be a capable partner, but yet, I felt uneasy about the fact how much I revealed today. About my plans, about myself… It wasn´t like me to do something so reckless and only hope I now had was that it won´t come back to haunt me later on. I fell asleep almost immediately, plunging myself in the dreams full of flashbacks of my past, of Nihilum, of Erebos…

 

The next day, I met Liesmith outside, near the ship we were about to board. We both agreed to leave as soon as possible since time was already against us. My brother and his new wife left earlier in the morning, so at least there won´t be any excessive tension during the trip. As we sat inside a familiar uneasiness started to settle in. Flying just wasn´t my thing. Still, there were things to figure out during the flight, mostly I wanted to talk about our realms and its futures. There were information that deeply concerned me and that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. I learned a little bit more about Liesmith´s lands and although I was pretty impressed with him, I couldn´t say the same about his governing skills.

 

_“We need to talk about something.”_ I started.

 

_“Continue.”_ Liesmith turned his eyes to me.

 

_“When you won the war, you impose some tributes and taxes on my realm. I would like you to abolish them, for the sake of our new friendship. You are hated by my people and this could help your image.”_

_“I don´t care what your people think about me.”_ Loki quickly lost all the interest in this conversation.

 

_“You should. I am not asking that much, you took everything from the palace, sell it and it will be more than a generous sum, there is no need to keep feeding off my country.”_ I refused to back down.

 

_“No. That´s my final word.”_ He was adamant in his stance. If she thinks that they became allies and the very next day she can start making demands, it was pretty delusional of her.

 

_“You are being unreasonable.”_ I was growing annoyed with his attitude.

 

_“I am the king, I can be whatever I want.”_

_“You are not much of a king, so don´t count on it forever.”_ My anger was now seeping through my voice. It was clear that this won´t end up well.

 

Going after Loki´s ego was never a good choice. _“And what´s that supposed to mean?”_

 

_“Please, spare me. You want to be king because of the validation because you want to feel needed. But you so far failed at the job at its basics. I spend some time at your court and I talked with the members of your small council. You are interested in Thanos and other big universal problems and in the meantime, you like picking a fight with me or go play with Tove, but you ignore everything about your own realm. I don´t want my country to fund the mistakes of your bad inner politics.”_

_“How dare you speak to me like that?”_ Loki´s temper was now hanging on a thread.

 

_“I dare because no one else will. Half of your people are scared to say anything and the second benefits from your ignorance. And I also dare since I have years of experiences. Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy… there are many types of regimes except monarchy. The monarchy itself is a relic of the past, then why are people still supporting it? Because it benefits them, only and only if it´s in their interest, they will continue to recognize you as a head of a state. And for this to happen you have to invest your time and thoughts, yet I never saw you do any of those.”_ I shot back.

 

_“It seems that you like to give lectures, so let me return the favour. You lost, I won. You pay, I take. I won´t dance to your tune. If you are in such a need of gold, you can take a page from your father´s book and go and marry, you are not so young anymore but maybe you will get lucky.”_ Loki was deeply offended, even though the truth was he didn´t really care about the inner functioning of his own realm.

 

_“Very classy, you have no real arguments so you think you can get to me with insults. Please. I heard worse.”_ I knew I hit the spot, the conversation was over.

 

The rest of the journey was silent. As we landed on my planet we were welcomed by crowds of cheering people. Well, they weren´t exactly there to welcome Liesmith, for him they only had insults and dirty looks, after all, they only saw him as a villain who killed their families, stole their money and took away their princess. I made sure to stop a few times to shake hands, exchange a word or two or accept flowers. Upon reaching the palace the official reception took a place. Members of the small council were impatient with many questions, but I simply told them to send everything to my room. It was pretty obvious that my brother did nothing during the time I was gone. I was still quite angry with Liesmith so I let him suffer in the boring conversation with other courtiers. Early, I decided to retire to my chambers to go over the pressing matters small council has sent me, which ended up being an unpleasant surprise in a form of piles and piles of papers stacked on my desk. Without a doubt, there is a long night ahead.

 

Loki was still upset over the fight. She said something that he knew was true and now he had to question his own decisions and actions. Oh, how he hated when someone else was right. He spent the night walking around his bedroom, brooding. As the first rays of light hit the window, he decided to go to her chambers. He managed to slip around the guards and enter unnoticed. He thought she will be up already, but there were no signs of movement around. The bed was empty too. As he was ready to give up his gaze fell on the desk, where he spotted a figure sprawled across the papers. She probably tried to catch up on all the work her brother was neglecting. Silently, he approached her. He extended his hand to touch her shoulder, but he retrieved it in the last moment.

 

_“Ehm…”_ He made a sound loud enough to interrupt her dreams.

 

My eyes fluttered open as I checked my surroundings. I must have fallen asleep during the night. As I stretched my stiff back I noticed Liesmith by my side. _“What are you doing here?”_

 

_“It´s morning already. We have work to do.”_ He replied coldly.

_“Fine. You can sit down.”_ I refrained from mentioning our yesterday’s fight.

 

_“I also want to discuss something.”_ He sat down.

 

_“By all means.”_ I waited.

 

_“I will give up my claim to the tributes and taxes.”_ Loki started.

 

_“What made you change your mind?”_

_“But I want something in return.”_ He deflected my question.

 

_“I am listening.”_

_“After we come back, I want you to attend the meetings of my small council. You said some of them are exploiting my… disinterest in their work. I want you to make it right.”_ Loki explained, in his mind, it was a perfect plan. She will do the dirty work and he will enjoy the results.

_“Deal.”_

_“Just like that?”_ He was surprised how quickly she agreed to his terms.

_“Just like that.”_ Unbeknownst to Liesmith, he was practically handing me keys to his realm. And with a fact that our alliance won´t stand forever, that was an offer I couldn´t refuse.

 

* * *

 

A/N

This chapter portrays a different fight between Loki and Reader, in some sense a little bit more intimate. Well, for what is worth I really think Loki wouldn´t care about the inner functioning of the realm and even though he thinks he would make a good king I don´t think he is necessary right. It´s a good thing he got himself some help:P.


	13. In flagranti

_“Can we finally start with the research?”_ Loki asked impatiently.

 

_“Let me at least take a shower first. You can drink some wine and think about your villainous plans or whatever you usually do when you are forced to wait.”_ I left him in my room and went straight to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I felt much more awake, so I took a long bathrobe and went back.

 

Loki was surprised upon seeing her entering the room, usually, she wore expensive dresses and jewels, hair and makeup perfectly done, but now, she was only in a bathrobe, barefoot with a wet hair dripping down on the floor.

 

_“What?”_ I stopped in my tracks.

 

_“Nothing, you just look different.”_ Loki immediately turned his gaze in a different location.

 

_“Are you drunk already? Come here.”_ I led him to the library attached to my bedroom.

 

_“I went through all of these books already when we took your realm.”_ He commented sceptically.

 

_“Here.”_ I took one out and toss it in his direction.

 

Liesmith caught it and opened it on a random page, then he read out loud. _“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever!”_ He snapped the book shut. _“What is this nonsense?”_

 

_“I always knew there is a poet inside.”_ I laughed upon seeing his enraged expression. _“Do you think I would leave my notes just lying around for every creep to go through them?”_

 

I went to his side and opened the book again, then, my hand went over the pages while summoning a simple spell. The letters disappeared only to be replaced by my handwriting. _“No one sniffs around in my romance novels collection. It´s pretty safe, tested to be even Liesmith-proof.”_

_“You want to tell me that all of these books are in fact your notes?”_ Loki looked around on the hundreds of books surrounding them.

 

_“Yes.”_ I looked over his shoulder. _“But this one seems to be way too old. Wait.”_ I went and picked out several other books. _“Let´s start with these.”_

 

We spend the whole day in my room, reading all of my notes from the past hundreds of years. For me, it was a little bit like a trip down the memory lane. For Liesmith, it was a rare opportunity to take a peek into my life, since the notes included my honest thoughts and opinions on everything I have encountered.

 

_“It seems you really like Midgard.”_ Loki murmured from the seat.

 

_“What makes you think that?”_ I looked at him from the bed.

_“According to this, you are a frequent visitor.”_

_“Well, it´s true I find that realm fascinating. The life-span of their kind is absurdly short compared to ours, but they are still advancing forward. You can learn a lot from observing and Midgard is like a small universe, you can watch and learn and then apply that knowledge on a bigger scale later.”_ I closed the book I was reading to focus on my thoughts.

 

_“Elaborate.”_ Loki was interested in her point of view.

 

_“Dynasties and regimes rise and fall, technological progress moves faster exponentially and with that new threats arise, wars are being waged, destruction goes hand in hand with the development. Now, they have their heroes, but soon, they will grow old and die and eventually there won´t be anyone to save them from the danger and themselves so to speak. It´s same for the universe too, we are unavoidably heading towards the end.”_

_“You are not an optimist then, how surprising. But at the same time, I don´t think you are content with such a fate.”_ He suddenly realized that he might have misjudged the extent of her plans… how big exactly she wants to go?

 

Once again it was like she was reading his mind, a mischievous smile spread across her face. _“Go big or go home.”_

_“Pride comes before a fall.”_ He commented.

 

_“Speaking from the experience?”_ I teased him.

 

_“Guilty.”_ Liesmith admitted with a chuckle.

 

I deemed the conversation concluded, so I went back to my book as did Liesmith. Another hour or two have passed and he spoke again.

 

_“According to this, there are two infinity stones on Midgard. It is a pretty recent entry and it corresponds with my knowledge.”_ Loki said.

_“We should go and check how well are they protected.”_ I suggested.

 

_“We should go and take them.”_ He corrected me.

 

_“No, that would be rather unwise. Herd all of them at one place would make it an easy target.”_ I refused his idea.

_“Let´s decide after we know precisely where they are.”_ Liesmith offered a compromise.

_“Fine. I think I remembered where the soul stone is.”_ It would be pointless to fight him over this now, so I decided to change the subject.

_“Interesting. Maybe we should start there.”_

_“As far as I know it´s well protected, we should leave it there for now. For once, trust me.”_

 

To my great surprise, Liesmith didn´t oppose my idea.

 

_“It is settled then, Midgard it is…”_ He wanted to continue, but a loud knock on the door cut him off.

 

I immediately realized how it would look if someone sees us together in such an informal manner. Without a word, I pointed on Liesmith and then on the door to my bathroom. He must have been aware of my intentions because he just silently nodded. After that, I left him to answer the door where I met one of the lords of the small council. I tightened the bathrobe and gestured him in.

_“What can I do for you, Lord Marwick?”_ I asked.

_“I´m sorry to disturb you, Your Highness, but I wondered if you got time to look at the papers we send You yesterday, some of them…”_ Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, eyes fixed somewhere behind my shoulder.

 

Slowly, I turned to face the same direction, only to see an unfamiliar man, sitting on my sofa, shirtless, with a huge grin on his face. _That bastard…_

 

_“Please continue…”_ I masked my shock and turned back to Lord Marwick.

 

His eyes were still fixed on the stranger, but he soon regained at least part of his composure. _“As I was saying, some of them are rather urgent.”_

 

_“Yes, of course.”_ I went to my table and picked everything I managed to settle yesterday. _“Here. Next time, send everything to Liesmith´s planet, I will personally oversee any problem you will encounter.”_

_“Excuse my forwardness, but You are leaving with HIM again?”_ Lord Marwick spit the pronoun as an insult.

 

_“Unfortunately, there are still many affairs unsolved between our realms. But we made a huge progress, please prepare a new treaty, Liesmith is officially giving up his claims for the tributes. Let my brother announce this news, it should please people greatly.”_

_“You managed to persuade him to relinquish his claims? As always, I´m impressed by Your diplomatic skills, Your Highness.”_ He proceeded to flatter me some more.

 

In the pretext of taking the wine glass, I turned to face the table and sofa where I caught an unfamiliar gaze before I began to speak again. _“No worries Lord Marwick, Liesmith is very susceptible to my charms and without him knowing, he will do exactly what I want.”_ I watched as the stranger´s grin fade away slowly.

 

_“The small council had some doubts after he pressured king to marry that wench, but I see You have everything under control.”_ Lord Marwick clenched the papers, ready to leave.

 

_“One more thing.”_ I turned around to face him again. _“About that “wench”… Keep me updated and if you feel that her influence over my brother is becoming overwhelming, make sure to find him a new distraction. Preferably someone from the ranks of our allies.”_ I sipped the wine.

 

_“As you command, Your Highness.”_ With that, he excused himself and left.

_“Susceptible to your charms?”_ Loki spat as he turned to his original form.

 

_“What can I say, you wanted to embarrass me in front of my subjects, now they will think that The almighty Liesmith is nothing more than my little lap dog.”_ I poured him a glass of wine and then extended my hand for him to take it.

 

_“You are playing a dangerous game with me, princess.”_ He took the glass, never breaking an eye contact.

_“And are you sure you are winning?”_ We clinked the glasses.

 

Truth to be told, our conversations were nowadays mostly on the verge between flirtatious and murderous, but it made them only so much more intriguing. One thing was for sure, more we were playing more the risks for both parties increased. Erebos got probably one thing right, we are going to destroy each other, but at the same time, we are going to enjoy every minute of this catastrophe.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello dear reader,

 

I hope you will enjoy this chapter:P. I tried to express the shift that is happening in the relationship between princess and Loki, after all, we are slowly making a progress here. Are you ready for the trip to Midgard in the next chapter?


	14. In venere veritas

The very next day, Liesmith signed our new treaty and after that, we were free to go to Midgard. I specifically asked him to contact Thor first, so he can arrange the meeting. He complied without questioning me. I managed to get my hands on some Midgardian clothes, simple black dress, and high heels and I also took a briefcase filled with a current Midgardian currency. Although my realm was home to almost every bank in the universe, we still haven´t established any relationship with Midgard, but that didn´t mean that we did not have some reserves of cash at our disposal. When I finally got to the ship, Liesmith was already sitting inside, dressed in a black suit with a black tie and black shirt.

_“Ready to go?”_ I sat next to him.

_“Of course. Midgard is my favourite.”_ He smirked, apparently in a good mode.

 

We spend the rest of the journey in silence and when we landed, at last, we were greeted by Thor himself and his fellow friends. It seemed that Thor was the only one happy to see Liesmith, rest of the group was just coldly staring at us.

 

_“Lady (Y/N)?”_ Thor turned his attention to me.

_“Your Highness…”_ Loki quietly corrected him.

 

_“My apologies, Your Highness. May I introduce You to my companions?”_ Thor continued.

 

I nodded and followed him to meet the rest, after the initial introductions we headed inside of the skyscraper, straight to the penthouse on top. At least I was able to put faces to names I knew from many reports and I also almost choked when introduced to Captain Steve Rogers, whom I recognised to be the mysterious man in which Loki transformed yesterday.

 

_“Drinks?”_ Mr. Stark tried to lessen the tension which was building up since our arrival.

_“Wine please.”_ I took up his offer.

 

_“You, bastard?”_ He turned to Liesmith.

 

_“I don´t think you have anything that I could deem as satisfactory, but you can try.”_ Loki nonchalantly replied.

_“Poison then? That would certainly bring satisfaction to me.”_ Stark said but poured him a glass of scotch.

 

_“So… so what do we owe the pleasure? You are not welcomed here, nor is your new side-kick.”_ The man known as Mr. Wilson spoke first.

_“I am not his “side-kick”. He won the war, he took my realm and he tortured me so I would not go as far as calling us a new superhero or supervillain team, let´s settle on temporary allies.”_ I knew it was rather petty of me, but Liesmith, after all, did all of the above. A little judgmental session won´t hurt him, on the contrary, it might do him some good.

 

_“Loki?”_ Thor looked at his brother accusingly. Liesmith probably didn´t tell him the whole story beforehand.

 

_“What can I say?”_ Liesmith just sipped from his glass, avoiding his brother´s gaze.

 

_“I see, old habits die hard.”_ Mr. Banner said sarcastically.

 

_“Can we move to the topic on hand.”_ Loki grunted, clearly annoyed.

 

_“Speak.”_ Mr. Strange gave him an opportunity to explain everything.

 

He then proceeded to convey all of the bad news to his audience. I noticed that he forgot to mention that he was the one in possession of the space stone and also, he withheld any information about Nihilum. The message was clear, if I keep his secrets, he won´t spill mine. After the initial shock, the room was plunged into a discussion how to tackle the matter, some of their ideas make more sense than others, but none of them managed to solve the problem in its entirety. I stood up, still clutching my wine glass as I went to the big window overlooking the city, then I turned back.

_“The solution is rather obvious.”_ I spoke.

 

_“Well? Will you share with us?”_ A brooding man with a metal arm asked.

 

I plunged my gaze to Loki´s eyes while speaking to others. _“One of you has to give up his stone and destroy it, that way, Thanos won´t be able to proceed with his plan.”_

 

My statement caused everyone to look at me like I was a madwoman.

 

_“Excuse me, but who exactly are you and what are your powers?”_ Mr. Rogers went to offensive immediately.

 

I shrugged my shoulders. _“I am really rich and I know things.”_

_“I am sorry, the place of a group´s smug billionaire is already taken.”_ Mr. Stark spoke.

 

A smirk appeared on my face. _“You are rich on the scale of Midgard, Mr. Stark. All of your assets could be considered as a pocket money for me. I bring resources that might be needed in the future, resources you won´t be able to afford.”_

_“Great, so now we have an asshole and some young spoiled princess to boss us around.”_ Wilson interfered again.

_“I am sorry you see it that way, but your ideas weren´t getting us anywhere, my plan is solving the situation entirely. And for the future reference in your mortal years I am about 1423 years old, so we can conclude that I am an old spoiled princess.”_

_“You are expecting that we will just quietly follow your plan? Destroying a powerful artefact that could save the Earth one day? Without question?”_ Mr. Strange remained calm, even though his words were aggressive.

_“And where is Aife anyway? She would understand how dire the situation is.”_ I turned my attention to him.

 

“ _Aife?”_ Mr. Strange seemed confused.

 

_“The Sorcerer Supreme.”_

_“You mean The Ancient One?”_ He asked again.

 

_“Yes.”_ I confirmed.

 

He looked on the ground. _“She is dead.”_

 

My smirk faded away. _“I´m sorry to hear that, I didn’t get the news.”_ I felt sad and confused, confused about how such an important fact missed me completely.

 

_“You knew her?”_ Strange continued.

 

_“Yes. Given the differences in our life-spans, I don´t have many friends on Midgard, but I considered her to be one.”_ I sat back and down the glass before continuing. _“Look, I know that it is not ideal, but right now we still have time to act. The decision is hard and I can´t pressure you to do it, but I urge you to consider it very carefully.”_ I decided to play coy for a moment not to force them to rally up against me.

_“You should listen to her, if there is anyone who can outsmart Thanos, it is her.”_ Loki said to the silence. He himself was surprised by the sentence which just passed by his lips. He wasn´t someone who gives compliments.

 

His remark took me by surprise, it was almost flattering.

 

_“We have to talk about it.”_ Stark took the word.

 

_“I understand, we can wait until you decide. How about we give you some space and go for a dinner, I am starving.”_ I looked at Liesmith.

 

_“You can´t just wander around.”_ Stark was very precautious given their history.

 

_“Maybe Thor can join us?”_ I offered an alternative.

 

_“That seems reasonable.”_ He accepted.

 

I stood up and went to the elevator soon followed by Liesmith and Thor. The ride was awkward, to put it lightly. Nobody knew what to talk about.

 

_“I´m sorry about what my brother did to you and your realm.”_ Thor finally spoked.

 

_“It´s alright, truth to be told, he also saved my life once.”_

_“What? He did?”_ Thor was surprised, he always hoped that there is still good somewhere deep down in Loki´s soul, but it wasn´t in his nature to go around saving people.

 

_“And I am starting to regret it.”_ Liesmith joined the conversation with a sigh.

 

_“Lying again? You know I can see right through you.”_

_“Oh really? What am I thinking? This is your favourite game, isn´t it?”_ Loki challenged me.

_“Do you really want me to say it out loud?”_ I knew what he was thinking about, he thought about space stone and how my plans included him.

_“On the other hand, I will give up this one time.”_ Loki realized she guessed correctly and he didn´t want his brother to know anything about his latest mischief, not yet.

 

After we left the building, we wandered around the place a little bit, then we found a very nice restaurant on the last floor of one of the towers. Clearly, it was a high-end establishment, given the luxurious equipment and fancy looking people. The restaurant wasn´t exactly crowded, only a few tables occupied and a couple of businessmen sitting on the bar. Quickly, we were greeted by one of the staff members.

 

_“Welcome, how can I help you?”_ He politely asked while measuring us from head to toe. Me and Liesmith could probably pass, but Thor in his jeans and a plain t-shirt was an eyesore in a place like this.

 

I took the word. _“Table for three please, preferably by the window. We will start with two bottles of your finest whiskey and one bottle of red wine and I would appreciate if you can bring us a menu, we are going to eat too.”_

 

_“I must point out that we have a wide selection of exclusive whiskey brands, but the price might go up over fifty thousand dollars per bottle.”_ He was clearly doubtful about our ability to pay the bill at the end of the evening.

 

_“Make it three bottles then.”_ I turned to Liesmith. _“I am paying tonight, after all, you so generously paid for my brother’s wedding.”_ Then I faced the employee again. _“I can pay for the alcohol in advance if there is a problem.”_

 

_“No, madam, not at all, please follow me.”_ He finally realized I am obviously being serious about spending a small fortune in their establishment, so he stopped hesitating and rushed us to our seats.

_“You have Midgardian money?”_ Liesmith seemed surprised.

 

_“What do you think I am dragging in this briefcase?”_ I raised an eyebrow.

 

_“Women´s stuff?”_ Thor guessed.

 

_“More comfortable shoes?”_ Loki second his brother.

 

_“If you keep teasing me, I will leave you both here to clean the dishes to pay the bill. I will pick you up in a couple of centuries.”_ I ended the discussion.

 

Soon, we were presented with a feast. Food and drinks were both very much to my liking, even Loki seemed pleased. Thor´s way of dining was… rather unconventional, which Loki referred to as a _“feeding of the beast_ ”. The only downside was that Midgardian alcohol clearly wasn´t working on any of them, but as for me, the wine was slowly getting in my head. Suddenly, one of the waiters came with a glass of champagne.

_“Madam, one of the gentlemen by the bar sends you this.”_ Surprised, I looked up in the direction of the bar only to see one of the men raising a glass in my direction. I was pretty impressed, he saw me sitting by the table with two handsome companions and he was confident, almost cocky enough to flirt with me. _“Please tell him, that I am flatter. And put his and his friend´s bill on my account.”_

 

The waiter nodded in response and left. I looked to my side only to see Liesmith glaring daggers in the direction of the bar. _“What was that about?”_ He said.

_“Nothing, just a little fun. This is almost a vacation for me, you have to relax a little.”_ I brushed off his remark.

 

_“This is your idea of fun? Some Midgardian pervert…”_ He cut his sentence short when he saw his brother´s questioning look.

 

_“Well, the fact that you lack in that area doesn´t mean I do too.”_ I sipped my wine again.

 

_“Are you mocking me?”_ Now the daggers were pointed directly at me.

_“Just imagine, you, courting a Midgardian woman…”_ I tried my best to put on Loki´s usual expression. _“Behold mortal woman and bless the day I laid my eyes on you, for I am Loki of Asgard and I find your appearance somewhat acceptable. You are now permitted to worship me as your god and do my bidding without question.”_

 

Thor failed to hold back laughter while his brother looked like he just ate a lemon.

_“Oh, please remind me, how many times you were engaged?”_ Loki refused to yield this battle.

_“You are playing dirty, Liesmith.”_ I pretended to be offended. _“I haven´t met the right one, yet.”_

 

_“But you met a few, haven’t you?”_ He shot back.

 

Suddenly, I realized I might have misjudged his state of mind, he was in a full offensive mood, something bothered him to the point he switched back to his ultimate jerk mode. I couldn´t understand how my small joke could cause that.

 

_“You are crossing a line here.”_ I replied in a cold voice.

 

Thor tried to defuse the situation. _“If we are speaking about Midgardian women, Jane…”_

 

Me nor Liesmith were paying any attention to him, we were having a staring battle. Abruptly, I stood up. _“Excuse me for a moment.”_ I knew a have to cool off, maybe the wine was too strong for me today.

 

As soon as I left, Thor subjected his brother to a scrutinizing look. _“What exactly was that? If I didn´t know you better, I would think you were jealous.”_

 

_“Don´t be ridiculous, your assumptions are as far from the reality as ever.”_ Loki dismissed his brother completely.

 

Thor didn´t add anything else, but he watched his brother as he started to the opposite wall. Something was different about him, he caught him discreetly watching the princess when he knew she wasn´t looking. And also, the fact that he didn´t just throw her out of the window for making fun of him, which would have been his usual reaction, puzzled him. _What exactly was going on?_

 

* * *

 

 

A/N

 

Hello dear reader!

I took the liberty to change the original story how the Avengers learned about Thanos and yes, we are preparing the ground for the biggest “I told you so” in the entire universe. Also, I decided to add a different side of Loki, something lighter for a change.

 


	15. Truth or dare

When I got back the atmosphere grew even colder, me and Liesmith kept exchanging angry glares, while Thor remained caught up right in the middle. I finished the bottle, feeling much more relaxed.

_“Where should we go next?”_ I turned my attention to Thor.

 

_“Next? I don´t know…”_ The almighty Thor suddenly looked quite unsure.

_“Well, I´m sure they haven´t decided yet, so we can´t go back. You don´t go out on Midgard?”_

_“Not really…”_ He admitted, embarrassed.

 

Instead of pursuing the topic, I just sighed. What an incredible duo.

 

_“Alright, let´s go and settle our bill, I can ask about someplace to go.”_

 

Both brothers followed me to the bar.

 

_“I would like to pay, cash.”_ I got an attention of one of the members of the staff.

 

_“Such a pretty girl accompanied by two gentlemen and she has to pay, are they lacking manners or are they just your bodyguards?”_ Suddenly a voice sounded next to me.

 

I turned my head to the source of the voice, only to see the man who previously sent me the flute of champagne. _“Something like that…”_

_“How about you give them a free night and stay here with me?”_ He proposed with a smirk.

_“And who would protect me then?”_ I played his game with an innocent smile.

 

Without warning a shadow came over my shoulder and I could hear Liesmith voice near my ear.

 

_“We are leaving.”_ He said coldly.

 

My new acquittance wasn´t giving up that easily, he measured Loki from head to toe and decided to address him directly. _“This doesn´t concern you, it´s up to the lady.”_ He took a sip from his glass and with his other hand, he caught my arm. _“How about that, darling? Do you want to stay with someone with a little bit of a class?”_

 

Before I had a chance to answer a glass in his hand exploded, cutting him deeply on the palm. All of his attention was now diverted on the injury.

 

_“What are you doing?”_ I whipped my head back to Liesmith, who was furiously clenching one of his fists.

_“Only teaching that insolent human a lesson.”_ He said angrily.

 

I knew the situation got way out of hand, so I quickly paid and rushed both of my companions to the elevator. Liesmith was fuming and Thor looked like he was trying to solve a really hard puzzle. What a promising start to the evening. As we got downstairs, I felt a little bit lost, maybe in a need of another drink. So, without asking them, I drag both gods to a nice-looking bar nearby. We were seated in a private room, away from the prying eyes. The tension was almost palpable.

_“I can´t believe you spend so much time on Midgard and you don´t know any good bar around…”_ I decided to speak with Thor.

 

_“My apologies, princess. Usually, we are quite preoccupied. Do you enjoy Earth so far?”_ He replied.

 

_“Yes, but I must say best parties here were thrown by Luis the XIV., I can´t believe it has already been around 300 years ago… It´s an ancient history now, let´s not dwell on it. How about sharing some fun stories?”_ I proposed.

 

_“Careful brother, she wants to get information out of you.”_ Loki grunted by my side.

 

I raised one of my eyebrows, but I kept my eyes on Thor. _“Has he always been such a buzzkiller?”_

_“Oh yes, on one of my birthdays, he turned all of my gifts to educational books.”_ Thor continued.

 

_“Only because you were really behind in your studies, I did it out of concern for your future.”_ His brother´s remark brought a smirk to Liesmith´s face.

 

_“I was only seven! I wanted my new battle gear and you knew I was looking forward to it for months. But that is nothing compared to what he did when we were eight. He turned himself into a snake and when I picked it up, he transformed back and stabbed me.”_ Thor said with an accusing tone directed at his brother.

 

_“I don´t think that there is a person in this universe Liesmith didn´t try to kill. We should start a support group for that matter, it would be wildly popular.”_ I joked back.

_“You know that I´m sitting right next to you.”_ Loki´s cold tone was slowly getting back to normal.

_“And are you ready to take the heat, icicle?”_ I risked my chances.

 

_“Icicle?”_ Thor´s laugh sounded next to me. _“That is very fitting, it will stick.”_

_“Why am I being punished?”_ Loki sighed with a rhetorical question, but then he saw me and Thor drawing breath to answer, so he raised his hand to stop us. _“Don´t even try…”_

 

Suddenly, we were alarmed by a noise coming somewhere from deep within Thor´s pocket. Clumsily, he fished out his phone and after a brief struggling, he managed to pick it up. He gestured us he is going somewhere a little bit less loud and disappeared, leaving me and Liesmith alone. An awkward silence has spread between us.

_“So… now you see what I have to deal with…”_ Loki decided to speak first.

_“Come on, your brother is funny… and fighting on the side of angels. You can´t hold that against him.”_ I was glad that the weirdness between us started to disperse.

 

_“Are you joining Thor´s crowds of fangirls then?”_ He said in a playful manner.

 

I chuckled. _“No, he is not my type exactly.”_

_“Your type? What is your type?”_

 

Alright. Maybe the weirdness was bound to continue. I thought about Liesmith´s question while never breaking an eye contact. It took me a several seconds before I answered.

_“A challenge. I like someone who presents a challenge, but at the same time… someone who understands me and accepts me, because, let´s face it, I am too old to change. Are you setting me up with someone?”_ I tried to add a joke at the end.

 

_“From king to a matchmaker… that probably won´t happen anytime soon.”_ He flashed one of his dashing smiles. _“I was just merely curious.”_

_“Anything I say will be later held against me, right? Fine, if we play this game of truth or dare… Let me ask you a question. Now, when you are the king… do you feel that you managed to reach your goal? Are you satisfied? Or was it all just to prove yourself something?”_ It was time to show Liesmith that it takes two to play a game.

 

_“You don´t like to ask an easy question, am I wrong?”_ Loki sigh, but at the same time, he was once again intrigued by their conversation. With her, it was a constant tug-of-war, they were both pulling and pushing each other, observing the reactions and calculating their next move. He couldn´t explain the feeling that was storming inside him, previously, he thought it was a simple curiosity, but now he wasn´t able to place it anymore. _“Well, truth to be told, I thought it would be… more fulfilling. Maybe I have yet to reach my true goal.”_ He admitted suddenly in a serious tone. He always felt out of place on Asgard, a second son thrown in the shade of his brother, so yes, he wanted to prove himself to his adopted father and to his brother, he wanted to surpass them both.

_“Universal domination?”_ I joked, but deep down, I became unnerved. Our time spent together stirred up something in me. It wasn´t about winning anymore, things were becoming messy, my thoughts often distracted by the image of Liesmith in front of me.

 

_“That sounds like an excellent plan. Should we team up?”_ He was glad that she offered a way out of this topic. Maybe she felt a slight uneasiness and for once decided to lend him a helping hand instead of drowning him in it.

 

_“Hmm… where would we draw the line… Anything less than half of the universe won´t do it for me. Hey, truth already has been spoken. How about a dare?”_ I proposed.

 

_“A dare? I am afraid of a dare you have in mind.”_ Loki raised an eyebrow.

 

_“Let´s take it easy, this should be a fun evening after all. I dare you to trick your brother. Or have you become rusty in that department?”_

_“You ask the god of tricks if he still can trick his dear brother? You are going to lose, princess.”_ A smirk stretched across his face.

 

Before we could continue, Thor entered the room.

_“Stark called, they already decided...”_ He began but suddenly stopped looking like a kid who interrupted his parents. He turned his gaze away, slightly embarrassed.

 

Only then I realized how close we were sitting to each other with Liesmith, our knees touching. Abruptly, I stood up, clearing my throat. “Alright, let´s go.”

 

Our way back was eventless, Thor was constantly throwing dubious looks on us, but we paid him no attention, keeping the conversation about Liesmith´s small council. When we got back to Stark tower, everyone was sitting around a table. Upon seeing us, Stark took the word.

_“We decided… Not to destroy any of our stones.”_

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Things are progressing very well so far between reader and Loki, … it would be a shame if someone else was about to step into the picture in the next chapter and ruin it all, right? :P.


	16. The proposal

_“Maybe you are not ready after all.”_ I sighed. _“At least keep this option in mind, one day you might want to reconsider.”_

_“Why wait? Let´s just take their stone and be done with it.”_ Next to me, Loki´s appearances shifted from Midgardian suit to his usual gear.

 

The atmosphere in the room grew heavier with every passing second, one bad move and it will be turned into a battlefield.

 

 _“Calm down, we came to talk, not fight.”_ I turned to him.

 

 _“They chose wrongly.”_ Loki remarked sarcastically.

 

 _“Oh really, if you were in their position… what would you do? They have misgivings, let´s give them more time.”_ I pierced him with my gaze.

 

He knew what I was hinting on. Loki had one of the infinity stones too, but he clearly had no intentions of destroying it. I needed him to see that this time, violence won´t solve anything. We need more allies, not enemies.

 

 _“But these mortals can´t comprehend the urgency of the matter.”_ Liesmith refused to back down easily.

 

 _“Remind me, when did you become immortal? You are mortal as well and apparently, it is you who is unable to comprehend the current situation. We are done here and leaving, now.”_ I scowled at him.

 

The room was absolutely quiet, everyone shocked by our exchange. Apparently, not many people can speak like this to Liesmith and live to tell the tale and even more surprisingly, there are not many individuals who could handle Loki the same way I just did. He was looking at me for a minute and then nodded slowly.

_“Alright. We are leaving.”_ He finally said.

 

The tension faded away slowly when Loki walked out to the elevator, ignoring everyone on the way.

 

 _“You really have Loki under your thumb, we should keep you around.”_ Stark cracked a joke.

 

I spared him an annoyed glance. _“It won´t help anything if we fight among each other, but he is right Mr. Stark. You and your team are underestimating this threat greatly. Just think about it, how bad it could be when even Loki is willing to join the good side? So, instead of cracking a joke, think very hard about the decision you made today because it affects billions of lives across the universe. And rest assured that if I deem that the situation with Thanos grew out of control, you are going to wish that Loki was your opponent, not me.”_ I wanted Stark to know that I am not irrational, but at the same time, he and the rest must be pushed a little bit, so they would better understand the gravity of their decisions.

 

After that, I turned around to follow after Liesmith. No one except Thor moved to escort me to the rooftop. Thor was standing by my side in the elevator and I could almost feel he wanted to say something.

_“You… have my brother´s ear. I never saw anyone who could so easily manipulate him and change his way of thinking, well…yeah, maybe our mother could do that. That is why I want to ask you something. If Thanos needs all the stones and he is moving forward with his plan, it means that the space stone wasn´t destroyed on Asgard as I thought. I didn´t want to say anything in front of the rest… but if it still exists, there is only one person who could have it – my brother.”_ He spoke.

 

I was surprised. He wasn´t that dumb after all, Thor managed to put two and two together rather quickly. Instead of an answer, I focused on my face so it wouldn´t betray a single emotion.  Thor was silently watching me for a second.

 

_“I understand. You won´t tell me, but please, promise me that you will look out for my brother. He can be evil, but at the same time, it´s only a small part of his personality and the rest outweighs the bad things by hundreds.”_

_“Don´t worry, I will try to keep your brother and the other half of the universe alive.”_ I didn´t want to continue this conversation, so I moved quickly to our ship where I sat down next to Liesmith.

 

Loki beckoned his brother goodbye and then turned his attention back to the princess. He noticed her stiffness as she clenched her knees. He also vaguely remembered that every time when they fly together she always seems rather uncomfortable, at first, he didn´t really pay any attention to it, but now, it sparked his interest.

 

 _“Is everything alright?”_ He asked.

 

His voice brought me back from the depths of my thoughts. I masked the uneasiness with a nonchalant smile.  _“Yes, of course.”_

_“Liar. Are you afraid of flying?”_ Loki guessed with a smirk.

_“Don´t be ridiculous.”_ I brushed him off at first, but then decided to add: _“It´s not fear, I´m just not very fond of being confined to a small metal bin cruising through the vast universe at the speed of light.”_

 

Without a word, Liesmith stood up and went around me, closer to the pilot´s cabin. _“You two, get out. Now.”_ He ordered the pilots and they followed his command without any questions.

 

 _“What are you doing?”_ I was more than confused by his action.

 

 _“Come here.”_ He beckoned me to follow him to the cabin.

 

_“I don´t understand...”_

_“You like to be in control, maybe it will be easier for you to fly if you have the control over the craft.”_ Liesmith handed me one of the communicators he took from the pilots. _“Just do exactly as I say.”_

 

I took the communicator and sat down on the seat, as I checked the controlling panels in front of me, it all seemed pretty regular. Without waiting for Liesmith´s instructions, I began the launching sequence.

 

Next to me, Loki watched my fingers move across the buttons and keyboards. _“You know how to fly?”_

_“Of course, but it is still very sweet of you, I am deeply touched by your concerns.”_ I said mockingly, almost unable to keep a straight face while confronted by his shocked one.

 

For a moment, it seemed that I hurt his pride. _“I am NOT concerned.”_ He turned his attention to one of the monitors. _“And I also know that you are not telling me the whole truth about flying.”_

 

I gave him a side glance. _“Fine, if I tell you the truth, will you answer one of my questions?”_

_“Are we exchanging truths again?”_ He smirked while keeping his eyes glued on the controls.

 

 _“Are you getting bored, my king? We don´t have to play, I will get my answers out of you anyway.”_ I delivered a small jab at his expanse.

 

 _“Not at all, so tell me, why are you afraid of flying?”_ He wasn´t giving up the subject.

 

I kept my eyes on the changing sky as we ascended. _“My father died in a sabotaged spaceship. I was supposed to fly that day, but he decided at the last minute that I wasn´t ready for that specific diplomatic mission. I remember being so angry, I hated the fact that he doubted my capabilities. We had many arguments during that time because I was slowly getting more and more comfortable with all the political and governing stuff and I questioned his rule quite regularly back then. After the accident, many people believed that it was me who was behind the sabotage, only to get my brother on a throne where he would act as a puppet for me. It took me years to catch the real culprits. And from that day, I have an irrational fear that somehow, my fate which I cheated all those years back, will eventually catch up with me.”_

 

I could feel Liesmith´s gaze on me, but for some reason, I couldn´t find the strength to look back at him. He stayed silent, contemplating my words. To my great surprise, he refrained from making any comment.

 

 _“What is your question then?”_ He said instead.

 

I cleared my throat to chase away all the unpleasant memories. _“Let´s say that the situation becomes dire, are you willing to destroy the space stone to save the universe?”_

_“I… don´t know. The space stone holds a special meaning for me.”_ He answered truthfully.

 

 _“Is it because it links you to Jotunheim?”_ I observed his reaction.

 

Loki knew she would understand him, but he couldn´t bring himself to verbally confirm her suspicions. So instead of an answer, he gave her an enigmatic smile.

 

 _“I see…”_ I understood, there was no need to dissect his feelings anymore. _“But you should also know that if it ever becomes inevitable… I will get the stone from you and I will destroy it, the same thing also stands for those Midgardians. I don´t care who will hate me afterward, someone has to do what has to be done.”_

_“We said no backstabbing.”_ Loki´s tone grew more serious.

 

 _“I won´t stab your back, I will face you and look straight into your eyes, at least that is something I can promise you.”_ It was clear that we got ourselves into a sticky topic, to say the least.

 

 _“Let´s sort out the stabbing part when we get there…”_ Loki ended the discussion.

 

The rest of the journey was silent, we both were plunged deep into our thoughts. As we got back to Liesmith´s realm, he helped me out of the ship and escorted me back to my rooms. Unbeknownst to me, someone else was interested in our arrival as well. After a shower, I changed to a more comfortable dress, determined to rest since we already arrived late in the night. Suddenly, a knock on my door disturbed my moment of peace. I slowly rose up from the bed to answer the door. There, on the doorstep in the middle of the night stood Erebos, his face covered by a long shadow.

 

 _“What is so urgent?”_ I didn´t even bother to cover up my annoyed tone.

 

 _“We need to talk.”_ He answered coldly.

 

Then, without an invitation, he pushed me back to my room and closed the door behind him in the process.

_“This is highly inappropriate.”_ My voice was getting angrier and angrier.

_“I saw you with him.”_ He spat.

_“With whom? Liesmith? It was you who told me to get closer to him, I am just doing what you told me to do.”_ I took a robe and covered my shoulders with it.

 

 _“I changed my mind, I don´t want him to look at you like that. If he thinks he can have you, he is greatly mistaken. You are mine.”_ He started pacing around the room.

_“Are you crazy? You are saying complete nonsense. I am no ones and no one can have me.”_ I crossed arms on my chest.

 

 _“YOU ARE MINE.”_ He suddenly crossed the distance between us and back me into the wall.   _“I am sick of your games, especially if you think you can play me. I see right through you, you lost and you don´t even know it yet. Or have you forgotten? When I asked you to marry me all those years ago… Do you still remember what you said? You said I am no one and I have nothing to offer. Guess what now? I have a Nihilum… and I also know Liesmith is after infinity stones and I know a person who would pay me a nice sum for such an information.”_ A vile smile was now spreading on his face.

_“You can´t be serious. It was centuries ago… and I admit, I wasn´t very nice back then, but it is an ancient history, don´t bring it up now. And also… Joining Thanos? Really? There is no way how to predict who will live and who will die during his “cleans”.”_ I knew the situation was getting worse. Clearly, I haven´t realized how badly I wounded his ego with my rejection.

 

 _“Yes, and I waited for centuries for an opportunity like this. I have you cornered, if you refuse my offer, I will auction off the Nihilum… Even Thanos might be interested. And don´t forget all the attention Liesmith will receive when a word will get to Thanos that there is someone else looking for his precious stones. You think I care about the universe? No, not at all. I want to see you yield to my demands, that is what I really want. So… tell me, princess, how is it going to be?”_ His figure was menacingly towering over me.

 

My mind was in overdrive. If Erebos really does what he is implying, it could mean the end of Nihilum… and Liesmith… and universe. I was also afraid that there is now no chance of reasoning with Erebos, he saw his opportunity for vengeance and he took it. He really managed to corner me this time around. The only plan in my mind was now stalling for time.

_“You barge to my bedroom in the middle of the night with a question like this… Let me at least sleep on it.”_ I argue.

 

_“Nice try, princess, but no. You have to decide now. One word and my men will contact Thanos.”_

 

He waited for my reaction, but I just stood there, trying to figure out a way out, but to avail, nothing was coming to my mind.

 

 _“As you wish…”_ Erebos took out a communication device.

_“Wait… If I agree… you will give me back Nihilum and you will never breath a word of infinity stones in front of Thanos?”_ I asked.

 

 _“Yes.”_ He confirmed.

 

I probably never faced such a hard decision. It was me or the universe. Suddenly, I recalled the question I asked Liesmith earlier today. Would he destroy the stone if it meant saving the universe? I knew I didn´t like his answer, it seemed very selfish back then, but now, when it was me who would have to sacrifice something, I wasn´t so critical after all. But I also knew that I have to be stronger…

 

 _“Fine. I accept.”_ I said with a shaky voice, avoiding his gaze.

 

 _“Wonderful news.”_ Erebos savoured his victory as he forcefully grabbed my left hand and put a ring on my finger. After that, he got close to my ear and whispered: _“Now he will know, you are mine. I am sure that it is going to drive him mad.”_

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Hello, my dear readers,

 

I am so sorry for the slow updates. I am leaving China soon for Korea and then back to Europe, so things are pretty busy this month. I will try my best to update next weekend, hopefully, I will manage (I can´t wait for Loki to find out this news:D:D). As always, take care.

 

XOXO


	17. The coming storm

As to prove one last point, he shoved me into the wall even more. I couldn´t move at all, completely trapped by his tall figure. His fingers placed my hair behind one of my ears as he moved closer, leaving me completely paralyzed.

 

_“Be good, otherwise…”_ He left the threat open, then he smiled and slowly backed away. _“See you in a morning, fiancée.”_ And then he finally left.

 

I was unable to move for a few minutes. _This can´t be happening, no way… How could have I been so stupid?_ I knew that I grew quite confident and cocky, but this was an enormous mistake on my part. I miscalculated his intentions, leaving my side completely vulnerable and he managed to exploit that moment of weakness to the fullest. With a shaking hand, I brought up the ring closer for an inspection. This large black diamond felt more like a shackle bounding me to a fate I didn´t even dare to imagine. For many centuries, I never felt so shaken as tonight, all of my senses were screaming at me to run away, far away, somewhere no one could ever find me again. _Am I really that feeble?_ I was getting angry at myself, no way… I would never run away, I don´t run, I don´t yield, I don´t lose. Slowly, I moved to the door, maybe a short walk will help my nerves and my mind. The guards only briefly looked at me as I left my rooms to take a midnight stroll. My steps found its way outside on one of the large terraces running all around the palace, there, at last, I took a deep breath of the chilling air. For some reason I felt like fainting, quickly I grabbed the railing for a support.

 

_“Don´t tell me someone poisoned you again?”_ Suddenly a voice broke otherwise quiet night.

 

There was no doubt about to whom this voice belongs, the last person I wanted to see me in this state. I took my time to turn around, trying to put on my normal expression.

 

_“Are you waiting in shadows to sweep in my rescue, Liesmith?”_ I tried to say sarcastically.

 

Upon seeing my face, Liesmith´s smirk faded. _“Are you alright?”_

_“Yes, yes of course.”_ I hid my face, hoping he would drop the subject and leave me alone.

 

Loki moved to my side, his hand lightly touching my arm. _“What happened?”_ His voice laced with concern.

 

_“I can´t do it tonight. I can´t play games, please…”_ I knew that in my current state I wouldn´t be able to think straight, I wouldn´t be able to be my normal witty self and I was afraid that another blow from my other enemy would prove to be fatal.

 

The grab on my arm grew stronger as Liesmith forced me to look at him. I tried to hold his gaze as the cold wind blew around us, but it was a lost battle.

 

_“Talk to me.”_ Loki commanded, but his tone was softer, way softer than usual.

_“Something happened and… it just threw me off guard.”_ I closed my eyes trying to calm all the feeling running through my mind.

 

_“Did someone hurt you?”_ He continued with his interrogation.

 

Loki watched her squirm under his gaze. He was baffled. _What could have happened to leave her in this state? Who would be able to put her in this position?_ In the past, he tried really hard to beat her, crack her and destabilized many times, but he never managed to put her in a such a state of distress. For some reason, anger started to build up deep inside him.

_“I can´t talk to you right now. I need moment…”_ Again, I felt my legs giving up under me.

 

The only thing preventing me from falling was Liesmith´s hand. He managed to keep me up, but I knew he won´t leave me alone after this. _“I am pathetic, I am sorry.”_

 

_“You better tell me what is happening.”_ His piercing gaze was almost unbearable.

_“I know I told you I can´t play games tonight, but maybe we can play one. Can we pretend? Can we pretend that we are not enemies, or frenemies or whatever we are? Can we play the roles of friends tonight? No agendas, everything I say, you will forget in the morning?”_ I started.

 

Loki watched her pleading gaze. This was a completely uncharted territory for him. _Was someone trying to find comfort in him? Someone wanted to consider HIM as a friend? A shoulder to lean on?_

 

_“Alright.”_ He agreed.

 

I slip out of his grasp as I slid down to sit, leaning my back against the railing. Loki mimicked my motion so he was now sitting next to me.

 

_“Erebos came to see me. He… beat me in my own game. I completely misunderstood his goals, apparently, all of this was to get back on me. Or more precisely to get me.”_ I said.

 

Loki looked confused, then a spark of rage lit up his eyes. _“Did he…”_ He suggested, leaving the end of his assumption open.

 

For a moment, I wasn´t really sure what he was hinting on, then I realized. _“Oh no, not that… I think he is saving that for our wedding night.”_ With a bitter smile, I waved my hand in front of his face.

 

_“What?”_ That was the only thing Loki managed to get past his lips.

 

_“I thought he wants to use me to get rid of you… but now I suspect it was just all part of his plan. I didn´t realize that when I broke off our engagement I hurt his ego that badly. Maybe I should have seen that coming, no one tells him “no” after all. But he never had a chance to strong-arm me to agree to this, not until now.  He wanted us to meet, he knew that we would sooner or later team up against Thanos, he knew it all along. And he is using Nihilum and you against me.”_ I continued.

 

_“He is using me?”_

_“Yes… he told me that if I don´t agree, he will publicly sell Nihilum and he will tell Thanos that you are interested in infinity stones, which will inevitably lead Thanos to you and...”_

_“You are afraid for me?”_ Loki interrupted me.

 

Only then I realized how does it sound. What the hell was I thinking? _“It will lead Thanos to you and to the stone, which could end up in a disaster.”_

_“Wait, how does Erebos know that I am interested in the stones?”_ He picked up quickly.

 

Damn… _“I told you he played me. When I got here, he offered to return Nihilum if I snitch on you in return. Of course, I didn´t know he was doing it just to bring us closer and to get something else which he can use against me. So, when I found out about the stones… I told him.”_ I came clear.

 

Liesmith cursed under his breath. _“Have you told him I have the space stone?”_

 

_“Of course not, I did a stupid thing, but not that stupid.”_ I hold a breath for a second. _“I am sorry.”_

 

I watched as Liesmith looked to the distance, contemplating what I just said. _“And that is why you are so upset?”_

 

I looked away too, this was pretty hard for me to admit. _“Yes… and no. I think this was just the last drop. I feel tired, with Nihilum, our war, you, Thanos, Erebos, Avengers, my realm, my brother… I constantly feel as I am losing the ground under my feet. Everything is crumbling around me and I don´t have enough power to keep everything standing and I am scared to death to take a moment to breathe because if I let go for a second, everything I care for will end up in flames.”_

 

Loki´s eyes softened. He understood her a little better now, there was no charade and no pretending, she truly revealed her true concerns and fears. _“You don´t want to marry him, right?”_

_“Don´t get me wrong, I never hoped to get married for love, I am a realist. But my whole life is influenced by schemes and politics, I wanted at least one part of my life to be free from it. And Erebos is a madman. But now, I am out of options. Love is not here for people like us and I have to accept it.”_ I chuckled.

 

_“People like us?”_ Liesmith asked.

_“For the scheming, vengeful, cold bastards. We would do anything to further our cause, often not caring for anything or anyone else. Imagine one of us would fall in love and then it would go wrong. It would turn people like us into monsters, so maybe it´s for the best not to think about it at all.”_ I said harshly.

_“I think that you are just afraid it would make you weak.”_ Loki quietly murmured, more for himself than as a reply.

 

_“Weak?”_ I raised my eyebrow.

 

He turned his gaze towards me. _“Yes. I remember the story you told me. About the prince and princess who fell in love and it cost them their kingdoms. Perhaps you are afraid of the price of such feeling.”_

 

I held his gaze. _“Really? And what price would you be willing to pay? Theoretically.”_

_“I don´t think you know that beforehand, you will know when the time to pay comes.”_ He averted my question.

 

It was rather weird to discuss the deep questions of my heart with Liesmith, but it indeed managed to take my mind off of the recent events.

_“Maybe you are correct, maybe I just became too accustomed to being alone, so I don´t remember the worth of having someone in my life.”_ I gave up.

 

Her words struck Liesmith hard, she was right, he probably always depended only on himself, not allowing anyone else to approach him, to share the burden. He pushed everyone away while building walls around him to keep them miles apart from his true self for the fear what it might do to him when he loses them, because, after all, it was him, the monster, the liar. Without realizing, his head slowly moved closer to hers.

 

Suddenly, the situation became surreal. Some invisible force pushed me closer to Liesmith, we were so close that our lips were almost touching. I tried to rationalize with my brain that I was just extremely upset and this was an inevitable consequence, but at the same time, I could hear my heart hammering in my chest, setting a pace so quick that I thought it might rip through my chest in any second. I could feel his cold breath on my face as we bore the gaze into each other’s eyes.

 

In the next moment, the sky became ablaze by a lightening closely followed by earthshattering thunder. Briefly, I could see Liesmith´s face illuminated by a cold blue light before we were plunged into a darkness again. This made us both snap back as we withdrew ourselves to a safe distance.

 

_“I should go.”_ Loki quickly pulled himself back to his feet while looking away, then he hastily walked out of the terrace, leaving me alone in the coming storm.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello, my dears,

 

I thought I will be busy this whole week, but unexpectedly I had a free day, so I decided to write a new chapter and what can I say??? We have a pretty eventful chapter here! Usually, the reader is extremely confident and self-assured, so I thought it would be interesting to explore another side of hers. After all, anyone would probably reach some breaking point under such an amount of stress. But don´t worry, the princess will definitely get back on her feet quickly. And as for Liesmith… You thought that they are going to kiss? No, no, no… not just yet. Their whole relationship is so fiery that their first kiss will have to match up to it.

 

P.S. I am sorry, no jealous Loki this time. But in the next chapter, there might be a small showdown between him and Erebos, so buckle up:P.

XOXO


	18. Jealousy

I stayed on the terrace, letting the rain fall down on me, soaking me up. Everything with Liesmith… with Erebos… it was getting out of control, out of _my_ control to be precise. I knew that I have to get back the reins of the situation, otherwise it might also crush me completely. When I got back to my room, there was no energy in me left to clean myself, so I just threw my tired body on the bed. In the morning, a messenger came to request my presence in Loki´s room. I tried to make myself presentable before leaving my chambers, to some degree, I managed to succeed but still, I felt the lingering feeling of exhaustion on my shoulders. As my steps carried me through the palace, an unexpected passer-by blocked my way.

_“Princess, what a delight to meet You.”_ A sickly-sweet voice caught my attention. _“I heard the news and as I understand, congratulations are in order.”_

 

Already annoyed, I raised my eyes. _“Lady Tove?”_

 

_“I had no idea that You were courted by Erebos himself, was he the one to sent you the dresses and jewels?”_ She continued.

 

Apparently, Erebos wasn´t losing any time in spreading the news about our engagement. _“I am shocked, my dear, that there are still things you have no idea about.”_ I said with a fake smile.

_“I must admit…”_ She came closer. _“I was surprised, after all, You told me that you won´t accept anyone less than a king.”_

_“It must be a true love then.”_ We were now having a full-blown stare battle.

 

_“Or he has the means to make you his little bitch.”_ She whispered mockingly.

 

Insults like that had no effect on me, so I repaid her with a smile. _“Or maybe it is just a tough pill for you to swallow… even though I thought you wouldn´t be lacking in that department.”_ If she wanted to mess with me again, I was ready to end her here and now.

 

She flinched slightly upon hearing my remark. _“Oh yes? And why would that be?”_

 

_“At the end, I already have a title. And Erebos is one of the richest men in the galaxy, so tell me Lady Tove, how do the scores look like at this moment? Because as I see it, I have a title and I have the ring. Please, remind me what do you have? Nothing. If you want to pick a fight with me, get yourself a bigger gun than your insults, we are not in the same league now.”_ I almost knocked her off as I went around her.

 

This exchange worsened my mood even more so when I arrived at Liesmith´s room and saw him and his brother standing by the table with a grim expression I couldn´t hold back a sigh.

 

_“What happened?”_ I quickly joined them.

 

_“Thanos managed to get the first stone.”_ Thor spoke first.

 

_“Did Avengers reconsider?”_ I asked.

_“No, not yet. I came to seek an advice from my brother, but he insisted on inviting you too.”_ Thor gazed at his brother curiously.

_“We should move against him before he gets more stones.”_ Loki proposed.

_“No, we can´t openly challenge him. The risks are too great. We have to get the remaining stones before he does or preferably get one of them and destroy it. But it can be tricky if we want to be discreet about it, it could really blow up to our faces.”_ I dismissed his idea.

_“You told me you know the location of the soul stone, but you never told me why we went to Midgard first. It might be the time to elaborate on that subject.”_ Liesmith surprisingly didn´t fight with me on this one.

 

_“There is a rumor about the price of acquiring the soul gem…”_ I started.

 

_“What kind of rumor?”_ Thor seemed suddenly interested.

 

_“It´s not very specific, just that it is a price only a few would pay. It must be something quite demanding since the stone still lies there.”_ My gaze darted between the two brothers.

 

_“Shall I remind you we are getting desperate?”_ Loki remarked.

 

_“It is worth a try.”_ His brother agreed.

 

_Great_ … I thought to myself, our problems are getting bigger and bigger. _“Fine, we can give it a go.”_ I gave up.

_“I have to head back to Midgard, so I will leave this in your hands.”_ Thor slammed the table as to settle the whole matter.

_“Wait…what? What do you mean you are leaving it in our hands? There are more pressing matters I have to attend to.”_ My priority was to deal with Erebos first, I had no time to go around the universe with Liesmith on another suicidal mission.

 

_“What could be more pressing than the fate of the universe?”_ Thor was looking at me confused.

 

_“Princess got engaged yesterday…”_ Liesmith snickered.

 

_“Wait… what? You two got engaged?”_ The god of thunder grabbed his brother´s shoulder. _“Why you didn´t say anything earlier?”_

_“What? No… I got engaged to someone else.”_ I ended his enthusiastic outburst.

 

_“Oh…”_ An awkward silence spread between us. _“Then… congratulation.”_ Thor mumbled while looking at his brother whose stare was pinned somewhere in the distance.

 

The situation was getting more uncomfortable by every passing second, Thor cleared his throat again. _“I… I am going to take my leave, brother, I can trust you on this right?”_

 

Loki only nodded in response, not even watching his brother exiting the room.

_“About yesterday…”_ He started.

 

Suddenly, an unexplained wave of panicked washed over me. _“Yesterday? You promised me you will forget. Yesterday never happened.”_

 

He locked his eyes with me without a speaking any further, it almost seemed as he was looking for something in my gaze, but he gave up after a minute.

 

_“Fair enough.”_ He concluded. _“I will update you about the soul stone.”_

 

_“Yes…I have to go.”_ Quickly, I followed Thor out of Liesmith´s room.

 

Outside, I finally felt like I can breathe again. _Am I losing my mind?_ I had to focus on my Erebos problem, I can´t get distracted by anything else or _anyone_. After the meeting, I hid myself in the depths of the library for the better part of the day, contemplating all of my options. It was getting late when I heard a noise by my side.

 

_“Fiancée?”_ A cold voice snapped me back to the reality.

 

_“What do you want?”_ I asked Erebos wearily.

_“Am I not allowed to see you? After all, it is getting late and you are here alone…it might get dangerous.”_ He said with a menacing tone.

_“Please, the only remotely dangerous thing here is you.”_ I tried to brush him off and stand up from the chair I was sitting on.

 

Before I managed to get on my legs, he put both of his hands on the armrests of my chair and lowered himself, so he could be with me face to face. _“Exactly… Why the hurry, my dear? We should get to know each other a little bit better before the wedding.”_

 

A slightly creepy feeling settled down in my guts. _“Let me go.”_ I commanded with a firm voice.

_“I don´t think so.”_ An evil smirk formed on his lips.

 

I tried to back away from him, but I was trapped on the chair. My hands tried to push him away, but he only laughed at my feeble attempts. Suddenly, a hand appeared on his shoulder and he was yanked away from me. I was shocked to see a furious looking Liesmith standing behind Erebos.

 

_“That would be enough.”_ Loki said in a calm, but threatening tone.

_“Who are you to tell me what is enough? She is MINE after all.”_ Erebos turned to face him.

_“Are you sure? It seems more like she doesn´t want anything to do with you.”_ Loki noted sarcastically.

 

This was getting out of hand. Of course, I was grateful to Liesmith but at the same time, I couldn´t afford to anger Erebos right now, not when he still had the Nihilum.

_“Are you jealous, Liesmith?”_ Erebos continued mockingly.

_“Of a man who has to blackmail his way into a marriage?”_ Loki repaid him in the same manner.

 

I knew I had to step in before Liesmith´s temper get the best of him. It wouldn´t be wise to let Erebos know how much I confided in him yesterday.

_“We were just talking, right my dear?”_ I placed my hand or Erebos. _“But I feel tired now, maybe we can continue tomorrow?”_

 

It was not possible to determine who was more surprised by my action, both males were left speechless. I took an advantage of this as I dragged Erebos out of Liesmith´s reach, I managed to push him out of the door and into the corridors, just before I close the door to the library, I gave Liesmith one last look.

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Hello darlings,

 

I am finally back from Asia and I will resume my previous posting habits of chapter/week. I hope you enjoyed this sneak-peek of jealous Loki:D. Also… don´t worry, the reader already has a plan for Erebos and she is going to share in the next chapter. I have this feeling that Loki will approve, Erebos? Not so much:D.

 

XOXO


	19. The geometry lesson

I had no idea how I managed to lose Erebos after the little showdown in the library, but thankfully, he didn´t try to follow me back. Exhausted, I closed the door to my rooms, leaning on them for a moment.

 

_“What was that about?”_ A familiar voice sounding from the dark depths of the bedroom startled me.

 

_“Liesmith…”_ I straightened my back, trying to look unphased. As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light around me, I could see a figure standing just a few meters away from me.

 

I slowly went to him, carefully observing his features. Once again, I couldn´t quite guess what he was thinking about. To cover my uneasiness, I put on a smile.

 

_“I don´t like to repeat myself.”_ Liesmith´s tone became sterner.

 

A small sigh escaped my lips. _“What was what about? I merely tried to stop both of you, the situation was getting out of hand, more precisely, your temper was getting out of hand. It was nothing personal.”_

_“From mine point of view, the situation was getting out of hand long before my arrival.”_ Tonight´s events have awoken many contradicting feelings in Loki. He saw her as someone strong, almost indestructible even, so much so, he tended to forget that she still could get hurt easily. That´s probably why what happened today truly shook him deeply. He was angry at Erebos, angry at her for getting herself into that position and angry at himself for how powerless he felt.

 

_“Are you worried for me?”_ I recalled he once asked me the same question, now was time to hear his answer.

 

_“Without you and Nihilum we don´t have any backup plan to…”_ Loki started.

 

_“That´s not what I meant, and you know it.”_ I cut him short. There were things and questions between us we did not dare to discuss before, but I figured out that if there is a time to do so, it is now.

 

_“Are you sure you want to know the answer?”_ Liesmith quickly picked up on where I was heading.

 

_“There might not be an opportunity to hear it later.”_ I walked around him to pour us a glass of wine.

_“What do you mean by that?”_ He took the glass which I was offering.

 

_“I have a plan on how to get rid of Erebos but let´s just say… it´s not as safe as I would like it to be. It has many “maybes” and “let´s hope for”, yet after a careful consideration, it´s the best I can think of in such a short time period.”_ I took a sip while sitting myself down on the sofa, shortly joined by Loki.

 

_“Are you in a need of assistance?”_ Loki spoke without really considering how he suddenly took upon himself to become some sort of a prince in a shining armour. No. Not a prince. A king. A god.

 

_“No. Less you know, less dangerous it will be. And if my plan backfires… Erebos might go after my realm. If it happens, please, try to advise my brother a little bit.”_ I knew I was taking a huge risk. It was obvious to me, that I have to kill Erebos in order to resolve this matter once and for all, but at the same time, simple murder won´t do. He was too influential, I have to turn his allies and all of his subordinates against him, so no one comes after me for a revenge or prosecute me in any way… and dragging Liesmith into this… it would just become even messier.

 

By now, Loki understood her pretty well, well enough that it was clear to him that once again, her plan wasn´t some children’s game, but an elaborate scheme, though it worried him slightly how uncertain she sounded. _“All right, but don´t forget that you have a god on your side.”_

 

Without him realizing, his words truly meant a lot to me. My side was always rather lonely, usually, friends and allies would switch sides for a right price, but somehow, I knew Liesmith wouldn´t be so easily bought. To change the subject, I cleared my throat and asked: _“You avoided my question. Are you worried for me?”_

 

We haven´t lit any lights in the room and I felt like the darkness gave us some sort of a comfort and confidence to speak about things we wouldn´t in the broad daylight. Still, I could see Liesmith hesitate.

 

_“It´s complicated.”_ He simply answered.

 

I comprehended the meaning behind that simple sentence. Everything between us was complicated and it was moving towards even more complicated future. And I was sure that Loki was driven by his temper and emotions more than I was, he was the one to act upon an impulse, so… it was my role, my burden to be the reasonable one.

 

_“Listen… we can´t. There is no future for us. Imagine us as two geometrical parallels, the distance between us might be almost non-existent, yet it will always be here and therefore there won´t ever be a point where we would meet and intersect, it´s impossible.”_ I tried to explain.

_“You are wrong. I can bend the line of my life to my will.”_ He abruptly stood up.

 

_“Loki…”_ My tone became pleading. I almost never addressed him by his name, so he probably realized how serious this is.

 

He didn´t understand, he couldn´t… Even if everything with Erebos and Thanos would end in our favour, there still was Nihilum and my future. The future I planned my whole life, hundreds of years before I get to know him. My own destiny, without any limits and obstacles, where I would be able to influence the whole universe. A power like no other.

 

_“… you can´t bend mine.”_ I finished the sentence and got on my feet too.

 

He crossed the distance between us as he almost seemed hurt by my words, but again, it also might have been just a shadow cast on his face by the dim lights behind windows. I thought he would simply pass around me on his way out, but suddenly, he got hold of my shoulders as he forced me to look at him. Without a second of hesitation, his lips were pressed on mine and me, a woman who always had a plan was left stunned, unable to muster any rational thought. I was reduced to mere emotions held by no outer boundaries. My mind couldn´t even register that I was now fighting for an upper hand in this kiss, because after all, it was me and Liesmith and none of us would ever be subdued so easily by the other. When we finally parted, I was almost out of breath, but my brain resumed its normal functions, or at least to some extent. Only because of that, I was able to hear what Loki whispered in my ear and I swore, although I couldn´t see his face, I was able to notice the smirk on his lips as he said:

 

_“I just did.”_

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Hello, my dear readers,

What can I say? I felt we were heading in this direction for some time now, at least to this exact moment:P. I promise, next chapter will be longer, but I didn´t want to add anything after the last sentence Loki said, so it is a little bit shorter. Of course, we are going to deal with Erebos in the next chapters and hopefully, I will probably share more hints about Nihilum, because I haven´t really got into the explaining what its purpose is.

 

XOXO


	20. Broken Vows

After Liesmith left I became imprisoned by my raging thoughts. As I paced around the room, I tried to clear my mind, but unfortunately to no avail. With a shaking hand, I poured myself another drink, this was no time to become distracted, my future was riding on my capability to pull off my next move. It was fairly simple, I just need to persuade Erebos that the wedding should be held on his home planet, there, I need to contact his second man in command. It was clear that to get him to cross Erebos, I will have to pay a lot, but there was no other way. Without wasting another minute, I sent a message to Erebos that I want to get on with the wedding as soon as possible. I also saw a chance that maybe some time away from Liesmith will help me to get hold of my emotion. To no surprise, Erebos soon replied, granting my request with a note that we are to departure first thing tomorrow.

 

In the morning, I met my soon-to-be husband, as we boarded his ship.

 

_“I was surprised by your request.”_ Erebos broke the silence.

 

_“Why? You know me. I am not guided by feelings or emotions but by logic. I know I lost. Yet, you promised me you will return Nihilum to me, so the logical thing to do is take the deal you presented and get on with it.”_ I sat next to him.

 

_“Why are you so obsessed with Nihilum? My scientists said it has practically no use. Did they miss something?”_ Erebos became curious.

 

_“It has a personal meaning to me. As a relic of the past, it was in our family for generations and I would rather die than to be the first one to lose it. My father told me to take care of it and I partially failed, I want to correct my mistakes.”_ I thought about my lie and I was convinced it would satisfy Erebos. He knew how proud I was.

 

_“If I knew it would turn you into an obedient lamb, I would snatch it a long time ago.”_ He laughed at his joke.

 

The rest of the journey was silent. The planet Erebos called home was a dark and menacing place and on this day particular, it felt like I was stepping right into the viper´s pit. His men escorted me to my chambers, Erebos wasn´t foolish enough to let me roam freely around the palace, but I would never anticipate it anyway. My plan was to get the letter to his right-hand man through his wife, after all, I need a help in selecting a wedding dress and in other preparations for the ceremony.

 

It wasn´t hard to persuade the woman to take the note to her husband, but at the moment the letter left my hands, my life was in danger. If the man, Saros, betrays me and hands the writing to Erebos… there would be no escaping, I was deep in the enemy´s territory with one and only hope. A hope that Saros is as greedy, egotistical and evil as his master. In my whole life, I never felt more nervous, so I just paced around the room, half expecting guards to barge through the doors any minute, but time passed and in the middle of the night, there still wasn´t any sight of an executioner but unfortunately any sight of Saros either. Then, a small sound coming from the wall disrupted my thoughts. A hidden door in the wall moved as a single figure silently slipped in my room.

 

_“Saros?”_ I said quietly.

 

_“Your Highness.”_ The man moved closer to me.

 

_“Thank you for coming.”_ I kept my voice as low as possible.

 

_“Well, I must say Your note awoke a certain curiosity in me. I always thought You are rather careful and manipulative person. I would never guess You can also be so… straightforward in your actions.”_ He sat down on the sofa.

 

_“Let´s just say that the situation forced me to do so.”_ I sat next to him.

 

_“I must say I was surprised that You agreed to his marriage proposal. Erebos must have a very strong leverage on You.”_ Saros continued. _“But he might have underestimated how much You detest such a union.”_

_“We both know him, My Lord. He only wants this because I turned him down once and he wants to prove he can have anything he desires. Should I remind You that there were others? I attended the weddings he held after I refused to marry him. And I was also present at his wife´s funerals. It can´t be that shocking I want to avoid their fate.”_ My plan was to divert the discussion from the said “leverage”, there was no need for Saros to start sniffing around.

_“Still, killing him? Your move is bold, may I say even foolish?”_ Saros let out a quiet chuckle.

_“I am no fool, but since You responded to my letter and You haven´t informed Erebos yet, I have to note that my assumptions are correct. You are not happy with Erebos holding all the power, aren´t You? And… let´s face it, if You want his riches and power, it can´t be You who kills him. But I can. As I see it, we could prove to be very useful allies.”_

_“It seems too dangerous. If he gets wind of this, we would all be sentenced to a very painful death.”_ Saros carefully responded.

 

_“And if we do nothing? I will be forced into a marriage with that madman and You… You will forever be number two. Well… given my reputation, I won´t forsake my passion for politics after the wedding. So, You might have ended up as number three. Or worse.”_

_“Are You threatening me?”_ His eyes flashed with anger.

_“No, not at all. I am merely stating the facts. You can´t make a right decision without knowing all the possible information and outcomes.”_ I didn´t want him to feel threatened. In my expertise, it would only lead to him making a hasty decision based on his wounded pride. _“Besides, You have the letter in Your possession. Dare I say, you have my life in your possession.” I added just to make him feel more in control. That is what men like him like anyway._

 

Saros looked visibly pleased. _“That is true. You can´t afford to cross me. But let´s talk… hypothetically… if I endorse Your plan to the rest of the relevant people and nobles, what is in it for us?”_

 

I smiled. He was ready to discuss terms. _“I won´t raise any claims for his lands or possessions now or ever in the future. Furthermore, it will be in Your discretion to handle it however You see fit. As a bonus, I will secure a few loans for You and my new friends from the banks on my planet. Let´s just say it will be very…to Your liking.”_

 

_“And what do You want from us?”_ He asked.

_“It´s simple. I want You to rally everyone who matters behind You and on the night of the wedding, You will stage a coup d'état. The official version will be that Erebos died during the fighting.”_ I explained.

 

_“Pardon my forwardness, but why do we need You? What stops me from killing You too after Erebos dies?”_

 

_“First of all… When I talked about the loans, I didn´t mean a small financial contribution. After the coup, You will have to split the assets among many people to ensure their cooperation. But after that is settled, I will pay You enough, so You will be the richest of them all. That should be enough for You to take the power and become the number one. Secondly… I spend a lovely afternoon with Your wife. Did You know that her home planet belongs to the solar system I own? I heard Your children are there too… If I die, I can only imagine that my brother and my friends won´t be very pleased to hear about it. Some of them might even take a revenge…”_ I left the end of the sentence open. _“Of course, there is a third option. You will do nothing, and we will forget about this conversation forever.”_

 

_“Your reputation is truly deserved, You really thought about everything. If I agree, You won´t be held responsible for Erebos´ death and will leave this planet immediately. As far as I am concerned, it is very advantageous for me to side with You.”_

_“I am glad You see it that way. I think You understand this opportunity correctly. Without me, there wasn´t the push You needed to take an action, but right now we can make Your dreams come true. And what is more, Erebos will be dead before the coup starts, so it´s fairly safe for you since he won´t get in a way.”_ At this point, I was pretty sure I managed to persuade him.

 

It will be costly, but it will work. And after all, Saros thinks he can be the new Erebos, but I knew how it will end up for him. Even with my money, he won´t be able to bring back all the power once he divides it among the rest of his allies. This empire will crumble, and I will be there to pick up the pieces… and the money I invested here.

_“Very well. I will start the preparations right away.”_ Saros extended one of his hands for me to shake.

_“I am glad we came to an agreement.”_ I smiled.

 

After that, Saros left me alone. Exhausted, I fell on the bed. The first step towards the victory was taken, but it wasn´t over yet. I have to hope Saros will be able to turn all the people to his side but given how popular Erebos was… it shouldn’t be that hard.

 

The days became weeks as the wedding preparations moved forward. I told Erebos I want a small, quiet ceremony, without my friends or family. I made him believe that I was so embarrassed I lost to him that I don´t want to invite anyone to witness my defeat. I knew this knowledge made him happy since he felt he has power over me, so he agreed. _That sick bastard_. When the day finally arrived, I was just happy it will be over soon. Saros seldomly contacted me, but as for his last update, everything should be ready. So, I was dressed in the beautiful white and silver dress and I walked down the aisle to say all the vows I knew I will violate in mere hours.  During the celebration, Erebos seemed more pleased with himself than ever, I was surprised how there can be so many people and his ego in one room. After the dinner, we moved to our new quarters.

 

_“So, my dear wife…”_ He let his hands fall on my shoulders.

 

_“Wait.”_ I turned to face him. _“I want my wedding gift.”_

_“Impatient as always. But it doesn´t matter now, everything you own belongs to me too anyway. Come.”_ He beckoned me to follow him to the other room. There, on the table, I saw an open box with Nihilum inside.

 

I smiled at Erebos, this time, it was a true smile. _“Thank you.”_

_“Now I am expecting my reward.”_ He answered.

 

Without a word I came to him and pulled his head down into a kiss. He was probably surprised by my action, but as far as he was concerned, he won. He managed to outsmart me, to tame me, to beat me at my own game. I slipped one of my hands into his hair on the back of his neck, then I summoned a simple dagger. A spell I learned from Liesmith´s books. Without him noticing, I stabbed him through his nape. An awful burbling sound escaped his lips instead of a voice. I watched him get down on his knees as he unsuccessfully tried to pull out the dagger. My own knees bend, so our eyes would be at the same level.

 

_“Till death do us apart, my love.”_ I said as I watched the light in his eyes slowly disappear.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Good evening/afternoon/morning my dear readers,

 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter:P. I wanted to write something where we can see how manipulative and cunning princess can be. Erebos paid dearly for his mistake and Nihilum is back in the game. As for the next chapter, of course, there will be a certain god we missed in this one. And one character we so far only heard of will make a surprise appearance. Any guesses?


	21. The Face-off

 

Quickly, I turned my attention to the Nihilum. I picked it up and summoned a spell to hide it in another dimension. Another handy spell I learned in Loki´s library and which I missed in my repertoire when Liesmith attacked my realm. If only I had known this spell earlier, it would have saved me a lot of troubles. Not that long after that, Saros and his men barged into the room.

 

_“I see You managed to keep Your part of a deal, princess.”_ Saros drily stated as his men picked up the body lying on the ground.

 

_“Of course. I will be gone the first thing in the morning. Any paperwork you might need from me… just send it over.”_

_“Would You like a drink? To our victory?”_ Saros proposed.

 

I looked down on my wedding dress, lightly sprayed with droplets of blood. _“Maybe another time.”_

_“I understand, now, if you excuse me…”_ He backed out of the room, leaving me alone again.

 

With a sigh, I dragged my tired body to the bathroom. After a long bath, clad in a long dark robe I moved to the big armchair next to the open doors leading to a terrace. The tension of the previous weeks finally started to slowly wear off, everything worked out perfectly… Erebos was dead, Nihilum in my possession and as a bonus I had a moment when I could truly relax a little bit, a feat I wasn´t able to do for a long time, so I just enjoyed the darkness and silence surrounding me. Hours have passed, and sleepiness started to creep up on me. Suddenly, a loud knock on the door forced my eyes to fly open.

 

_“What?”_ I barked, slightly irritated.

 

The door opened, revealing Saros.  _“I am sorry, but… a guest has arrived, and he wants to speak with Erebos.”_

_“Erebos is dead, it is your job now. Why do you bother me?”_ My voice was cold as ice. Could I have just a minute???

 

_“I…”_ Saros had a weird look on his face… he seemed almost scared. _“I don´t think I have the capacity to speak with him.”_

 

_“With whom? Speak to the point or else go away.”_ My patience was running low.

 

_“It´s Thanos.”_ His voice wavered as he pronounced that name.

 

A chill ran down my spine. _“Thanos? What is he doing here? And what do you expect me to do?”_

 

_“I told him you will receive him in the hall.”_ Saros was on a verge of panic.

 

_“You did what?”_ I raised my voice as I abruptly stood up.

 

_“I am sorry…”_ He gave me no time to continue, he bowed his head and basically ran out of the chambers.

 

That bastard, that… coward, he wanted the big boy´s shoes and the minute things go bad he is running and hiding behind my skirts. I was angry beyond anything. My mind was blinded by rage and it prevented me from even considering why Thanos showed up. I stormed out of the room and head towards the main hall, where, upon entering, I spotted a gigantic figure near the opposite side. The lights were dim and only other source of light was a small sparkle on the golden glove of the man I was about to face.

 

_“Thanos, I presume.”_ I took long confident strides across the large space. My nature disallowed me to show the turmoil that was raging inside me.

 

_“Princess…”_ He slowly turned to face me, or tower over me to be more precise. _“I heard that condolences are in order rather than congratulations.”_

_“Yes, as you can imagine, I am devasted, but to be honest, you could have sent a letter I did not expect a personal display of your sympathy.”_ I bore my gaze into his eyes, trying to guess the meaning of his visit.

 

_“Word travels fast and I was nearby, Erebos was a valuable ally to me after all. You can understand how unfortunate his passing is.”_ He didn´t flinch at all.

_“Unfortunate to you or me?”_ I was not in a mood to play games.

 

_“You have a quick wit. To clarify my meaning, it is unfortunate to this planet, since it has lost its use to me and unfortunate to you since you are on this planet as well. Also, I heard some rumors that you and Loki of Asgard are… somehow involved together. So, it will be like killing two birds with one stone.”_ A cold smirk stretched across his face.

 

The situation wasn´t looking very good. _“Charming. If I understand this correctly, you came to destroy this planet and kill me, because according to your information I sided with Liesmith.”_ My priority now was to get out of here alive.

 

_“You are not one to go around the topic, aren´t you, little thing? It is true. Loki might think that he and his brother will be able to stop me from proceeding with my plan, but they are gravely mistaken. I am always step ahead.”_ Thanos chuckled.

 

_“Big man, big words…yet completely misinformed.”_ I snickered.

_“Don´t play around, little thing. I know you are well aware of my plan and apparently, you haven´t admitted to yourself that you joined the side of the losers.”_ Thanos continued.

_“Excuse me, but it should be you who should admit that you know absolutely nothing. Use your brain a little bit.”_

 

My insolence turned against me as Thanos seized my neck and lifted me up from the floor. I felt his hand slowly choke the life out of my body as my legs dangled in the air helplessly. With all the strength I mustered, I fought against him in a dire attempt to utter a few words. _“Who.. do you think… pays for your plan?”_ My voice was strangled and almost inaudible.

_“What?”_ His features became confused as Thanos lowered the pressure of his grip.

 

_“Do you think that I haven´t noticed? All of your expenses are covered by me. You are draining resources via proxy from my pocket, but ultimately, it is me who is funding your plan. Don´t tell me you didn´t realize that?”_ I get out of me between my heavy breathing.

 

I figured out that Thanos was using my banks to fund his endeavors not too long ago. It was something that I kept from Liesmith, he was too hot-headed to handle such a knowledge and I was afraid he would act upon a whim, which would ultimately endanger my realm. As long as Thanos needs it, it is safe.

 

He dropped me on the floor. _“On whose side are you on?”_

 

I picked myself up. _“On mine. But let me be clear on one thing. You think that losing Erebos will hinder your progress? Well, if you kill me, the consequences will be even more unfortunate. The moment I die, all of the cash flow to you stops, moreover, there are no safety breaks placed in the event of my passing. If I go, my realm will quickly follow and since my planet is a home to a whole backbone of the banking industry across the universe… How many people do you think will die as an indirect consequence of your actions?”_ I switched to an attack.

 

Of course, I bluffed. I made sure a long time ago that if I die, the universe won´t be plunged into a financial crisis which would happen if my realm seized to exist, but… that is something Thanos doesn´t need to know. He just needs to realize how powerful my grip on the universe is, a truth I didn´t want many people to realize since it would endanger me greatly. I always worked in the shadows, almost unnoticed, a tactic which kept me relatively safe for years.

 

Thanos was deep in his thoughts as he waged my words. _“So, you approve of my plan?”_

_“That is not what I said. I don´t approve, because it´s greatly flawed.”_ I massaged my bruised neck.

 

_“Flawed?”_ He inquired.

_“Yes… Although I agree that the universe is heading towards a terrible end and some countermeasures have to be taken soon, I don´t think that erasing half of the population is a way to go. Your genocide is said to be completely unbiased but tell me this. You are planning to plunge the rest of the surviving into a complete chaos, you think that it would stop the wars and the decay? No. You preach the balance but offer only a swifter end.”_ I answered.

 

_“Yet it seems you see the problem in the current state, but you haven´t come with any solution.”_ He retorted.

 

Incorrect. I have a Nihilum. _“The fact that I don´t have a solid plan doesn´t mean this question doesn´t trouble me.”_

 

_“And what about Loki?”_ He inquired.

 

_“I have Liesmith wrapped around the finger. He is too wild to go unchecked.”_ I evaded his question, frankly, Loki became a complication I have yet to solve.

 

Thanos looked puzzled. He probably didn´t anticipate anything that happened in the last few minutes. _“If I let you go, you won´t try to stop me?”_

_“Again, I am not on your side, I am independent in my own right. If I think about a better plan, I will go against you. But as for now, I won´t cut my financial support.”_ I hoped he will go agree to it, there were no more tricks up my sleeve.

 

_“Fair enough. What about this planet?”_ He agreed.

_“You can do whatever you want. I don´t have the power to stop you.”_ I admitted bitterly, but secretly I celebrated. If he decides to destroy whatever Erebos left behind, I wouldn´t have to pay to Saros. Unbeknownst to Thanos, he will help me solve this matter once and for all.

_“You are far more dangerous than I could ever think. I assumed I know all of the big players in the universe, but you managed to hide yourself well.”_ Thanos paid me a compliment.

 

_“I am just a feeble woman.”_ I said with a smirk, but his remark got me thinking. Am I really a good guy here? Or am I the biggest villain of them all? After all, Thanos, Loki… I play them both, side with whoever is needed at the moment and they still had no idea what I had in store for the future.

 

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello, darlings,

 

I am so sorry that there was no Loki in this chapter, but it would be too long. We have a lot to cover in the next chapter, most urgently, the “great plan” will be finally revealed. Are you ready?

Also, I think I talked about it earlier, but I don´t want the main character to be a typical “damsel in distress” (although I am not against sometimes putting her in a situations which eventually might lead to this), I wanted to write a far more complex strong character which can´t really be placed as a heroine or a villain but something in between, something/someone that would make people think about their own moral standards and how they would handle a situation if they happened to be in it. That is why the princess did not cut Thanos out and basically allows him to proceed with his plan.

 

P.S. As always, if you have any questions (about the story or in general), comments or ideas, write me in the comment section<3

 

XOXO


	22. The curtains fall

Right after my last sentence, I decided to leave the room, in fact, I decided to leave that whole planet immediately. Thanos will handle the rest. As I sat down in the ship, my gaze fell down on my hands and to my great surprise, they were shaking slightly. Then it hit me, the dreading emotion spreading across my body was fear. But this little encounter with Thanos wasn´t the reason why I felt the chills running down my spine, no… it was something I realized while talking to a mad titan. All this time, I got everything wrong, I didn´t realize there was a bigger picture, I misjudged my opponent's intentions… Only now I understood his endgame.

 

It took us only a couple of hours to arrive on Liesmith´s planet. It was a late night, just a few people running around the palace. I barged into my rooms shrouded in darkness, but even without a light, I knew he was there, waiting.

 

 _“Lurking in shadows again, Liesmith?”_ I asked calmly while simply snapping my fingers to light the candles.

 

 _“I thought you would appreciate a small “welcome home” celebration.”_ He smirked as he neared closer.

 

 _“Your choice of guests is rather… limited.”_ I snickered as I walked around him to sit down.

 

 _“You know what they say… quality before quantity.”_ Then his gaze fell down on my neck. _“What happened?”_ He asked.

 

 _“Thanos.”_ I answered rather drily.

 

 _“Tell me what exactly went down.”_ His hand grabbed my shoulder as he gazed into my eyes.

 

 _“Nothing, nothing I couldn´t handle. It´s all well, Erebos is dead, Thanos let me live.”_   I didn´t break the eye contact.

 

 _“And Nihilum?”_ Loki continued.

 

His question was like a stab to the back, but instead of letting it show I smiled. _“Safely with me.”_

_“Good, then everything went as you planned.”_ Liesmith returned my smile.

 

 _“Or should we say as you planned?”_ I watched his reaction.

 

Loki´s face remained expressionless. _“What do you mean, my dear?”_

_“Are you resorting to a sweet-talk now? Please, stop pretending, this is beneath you. I know.”_ My hand twirled around his forearm as I forced him to bend down so our faces would be on the same level. _“I must admit, I am so angry I swear I could just rip your head off, but at the same time… you played your game so brilliantly that I have to admire you for it, it almost breaks… no never mind. Let´s talk, but this time for real. There is no point in hiding anymore.”_

 

I saw Loki´s eyes lit up with realization. He straightened himself to regain his previous composure. _“You never fail to amaze me. How did you figure it out?”_ He slowly moved to sit across me.

 

 _“During my talk with Thanos… we were talking about big players… underestimated players more precisely and then it hit me. I should have focused more on your end-game, but I was so preoccupied with my own problems that I just pushed it on the edge of my mind. You played me, Thanos and Erebos, all of us. When you came to our planet, it wasn´t just for Nihilum, you knew you needed me. You came for me too, but you were just partially successful, Nihilum was gone. But I also suspect you knew that Erebos has it even before I knew, that´s why you have invited him to the court. He double-crossed you and you adapted to the situation right away. You knew that I will focus on getting it back and by doing that I would turn a blind eye towards you. You used Erebos against me, to distract me and at the same time, you forced me to go after Erebos to retrieve Nihilum… for you.”_ I started.

 

 _“You are giving yourself too little of a credit. After you found out about my research on infinity stones and the space stone I had to act quickly so you wouldn´t start to ask yourself certain questions. Our little trip to Midgard, a small push to Erebos, you kept me quite busy keeping you away from the truth.”_ He admitted.

 

 _“Yes, now I understand. You knew that if you make Erebos jealous, he would act rashly, and I would have to deal with that problem immediately. And you kept my mind preoccupied with the imminent threat of Thanos so I would be oblivious to any other dangers around me. All while keeping me entertained by our small game. Everything played into your hand.”_ A dark chuckle escaped my lips, he was just too good.

 

 _“But even after all of this, we are here, and you know. That is what makes you unique in my eyes, you are the only worthy opponent in the galaxy.”_ Liesmith paid me another compliment.

 

 _“And what now? I know that your true plan is to let Thanos get all the stones and only after that you would turn on him and snatch all the power from under his nose. That is why you don´t want to destroy the soul stone. And you also knew that Avengers would refuse to destroy the stones on Midgard, but you played alongside me to get me to trust you, but in fact, you are glad they remained there because they are like sitting ducks there. And don´t forget the cherry on top, the final step in your plan… me. You need me… You know that Nihilum could be one of the only artifacts powerful enough to face off Thanos when he gets all the stones. And you knew that I would go against Thanos if the situation ever came to be. Tell me… you would turn against me right at the moment Thanos lies dead, right?”_ I finally asked the question which burned me for several hours.

_“We promised to not to stab each other in the back while the truce between us stands, but that alliance is to stop Thanos, not me. You and Thanos were always supposed to fight the final battle, I would just use that opportunity for my gains in the end.”_ Liesmith was again using his silver-tongue to spin me around.

 

 _“But my dear, you planted that dagger in my back a long time ago. Only now I can feel it. But since we are completely transparent today, I will let you on a secret. Something you didn´t predict in that master-mind of yours.”_ Slowly I stood up and moved to the seat on which he was sitting on.

_“I am intrigued.”_ He flashed one of his typical cocky smiles, he was so sure of himself at that moment.

 

I placed both of my hands on the armrests of his chair. _“You underestimate the power of Nihilum, or more like you failed to understand its purpose. I figured out you know that it is somewhat similar to the infinity stones, hell I even told you that, but let me give you another lesson. Nihilum is older. Before the universe exploded into existence, before the stones were forged out of these remnants, before you and me… there was nothing. Why do you think Nihilum is called Nihilum? You can wield infinity stones, use its powers to do the unimaginable, but Nihilum is in a different league altogether. You don´t use it, you surrender to it and you become something else entirely. You want to fight me for the dominion of the universe?”_ I came even closer, so I would be able to whisper the last sentence right into his ear. _“I would like to see you try.”_

 

I retrieved my arms as I straightened my body again to put some distance between us. Although he managed to fool me around for quite some time, there still was an ace in my sleeve. Liesmith just sat there for a moment, slightly shocked by my latest revelation, but he quickly regained his wits. _“That is why you haven´t used it yet? Your biggest fear is to lose control and to surrender completely to something like Nihilum must terrify you deeply.”_

 

There were no more secrets between us, the curtains felt down to the ground completely. _“Yes, but that is why I have you. You will push me.”_

 

Loki stood up too and with a few carefully measured steps he closed the distance between us. _“So… this is it? It will be you against me in the end?”_

 

 _“Deep down we both always knew it. That´s why we are attracted to each other even though we both know this is no star-crossed lovers story but more like an inevitable gravitation towards the destruction.”_ I didn´t flinch as he put his hand on my arm.

 

 _“You are truly the only thing that makes me question my goals and I fear that would be my undoing.”_ He didn´t hesitate to erase the distance between us as he kissed me.

 

 _“Liar.”_ I murmured in between. I knew he was lying, but at the same time, I was painfully aware that he was the only one for me and I was the only one for him. Too bad that things like that can´t last longer.

 

* * *

 

A/N

 

Hello dear reader,

 

First of all, sorry for the long wait I had a terrible migraine most of the last week, so I just waited till it passes so I can really focus on this chapter. Secondly, I wanted to do this plot twist for a long time now:D I hope I have caught you off guard a little bit. I was inspired by a few videos I watched about Loki´s true intentions in the Avengers: Infinity wars and I really think such a plan really fits the god of mischief.


	23. Fortune is fickle

The morning light only made mistakes of the previous night that much more prevalent. _What was I thinking?_ I was always so careful, but the anger and the thrill clouded my judgment. Liesmith was still lying next to me, sleeping peacefully, well… that would be a stretch. _Can someone sleep cunningly?_ I was painfully aware of what I have to do next. It wasn´t safe anymore to trust Loki with the infinity stones and if I wanted to get back to the game properly, I would have to acquire one of the stones myself, just to slow the whole race down, re-think. re-group and re-arrange my plan on my own terms.

 

_“What are you thinking about?”_ His fingers traced the skin on my arm slowly.

 

_“What I will make you do once I rule the universe.”_ I brushed off his question.

 

_“Well, I think that I already gave you an idea or two...”_ A mischievous smile appeared on his lips.

 

_“I think even with all the power I won´t be able to lower your ego. Shame.”_ My answer was in a similarly playful manner.

_“Tell me the truth. What´s on your mind?”_ Loki refused to drop the subject.

_“A lot of things. Mainly, how I will explain your death to Thor. Given the fact that you keep the space stone as your lucky charm when someone who´s nickname is “Mad Titan” wants that trinket so badly.”_ It wasn´t that far from the truth, this question did already cross my mind several times.

 

_“That´s the thing, darling. He is not “Genius titan” or “Clairvoyant titan”. Thanos will remain oblivious of my possession of the stone until I choose otherwise.”_ Liesmith said with a smug.

_“You are dancing with the death. He is going to figure it out sooner or later, I did too. Others are not as stupid as you think Loki.”_ Sometimes I feared that Loki´s self-assurance truly clouded his judgment completely.

 

_“So, how about you stop imagining my many downfalls and we enjoy the time before my funeral a little more?”_ He smirked.

_“No. I have to go to my planet. With Erebos and everything, it is going to be a diplomatic mess. And don´t forget, I am in my period of mourning, I just lost a husband.”_ I faked a pained expression as I climbed out of the bed.

 

_“If that´s the case I would never willingly tarnished the reputation of a newly-widowed woman. You have my apologies.”_ He just sprawled across the mattress.

 

_“Sure.”_ I said sarcastically while quickly dressing up. It still baffled me how we could go from admitting that we want to use each other for our personal gains to a light morning conversation. Maybe this was our signature behaviour. Going from super determined and serious to joking around in a matter of a few hours. _“See you in a few days.”_

 

Before I exited the room, Loki called out to me. _“Wait. I have something for you.”_

 

I turned around. _“Another dagger to the back?”_

 

_“A noose around your neck.”_ He cheekily replied as he got up to his feet and searched his coat for a sparkly item.

_“My necklace? Do you realize that you just pass this from one girl to another? You should get me something new.”_

_“I remember the story of this necklace. It was the first time you truly knocked the wind out of my sails. From now on, it will stay with you. I promise.”_ He placed the jewellery around my neck.

 

_“That doesn´t mean you should not strive to outdo yourself next time.”_ I winked at him as I moved to the doors.

 

As I was leaving I noticed that the guards were missing, but I didn´t give it a second thought. To prevent Liesmith from following me to the location of the soul stone I decided to first go to my home planet and change the ships there. At least, I would be able to do some damage control there, after Erebos´ untimely passing.

 

Everything went without a glitch and I managed to resolve the most pressing problems within a few hours of my arrival. Then I took one of our ships and left to fulfil my personal mission. Purposely, I turned off the tracking device and I also made some de-tours just to be sure. It took me several days to reach the Vormir, a weird gloomy planet and my final destination. I left the ship on the sands and continued on foot, reaching a mountain with a prominent rocky shrine on top of it. _That should be it._ As I continued down the path a shadowy figure appeared in front of me.

 

_“Welcome Princess (Y/N).”_ An unfamiliar voice addressed me.

 

_“How do you know me?”_ I asked, trying to remain composed.

 

_“I know everyone who comes to seek the soul stone. It is my curse_.” The red-skulled figure replied.

 

_“So, you also know why I came. Can you take me to the stone?”_

_“Of course, princess. But let me warn you, there is a price to be paid.”_ The shadow led me up the road.

 

_“Yes, I realized that there will be a sacrifice, but can you tell me more?”_ I asked as we reached the peek with a stone shrine.

_“In order to obtain the stone, you must sacrifice something you love.”_ My guide took me to the edge of the cliff.

_“I don´t understand.”_ I looked down to the depths under me.

 

_“A soul for a soul.”_ He continued.

 

A dreadful feeling crept up my body. _“A soul? You mean a human sacrifice?”_

_“The soul that you love the most.”_ The wraith confirmed.

 

A burst of laughter seized my body. _“How can I sacrifice the soul I love the most when it´s my own? There has to be a loophole for that or should I take a plunge myself?”_

_“You can´t lie here, not even to yourself. Look down into your soul and see the truth.”_

_“I am not lying to myself!”_ But the more I thought about it the more I grew uncertain of my own convictions. _“Am I?”_

_“You didn´t bring your sacrifice with you today. Go back and return when you are ready.”_ The shadow disappeared into a thin air leaving me deeply shocked.

 

I didn´t even register how I got back to the ship or how I left the planet. All the controls were on autopilot as I sat and watched the universe and galaxies disappear behind. I was only brought back to the reality when I was suddenly logged out of the systems. First, I thought it must be some automatic reboot, but then a screen with an incoming call popped up on the front shield.

_“Brother?”_ I was surprised to see my brother´s face. He looked somewhat… disturbed. _“Your timing is impeccable, I have some problems with the system. Can you get someone to look at it via remote access pleases?”_

 

_“I know.”_ He grimly replied.

 

A lump formed in my throat. _“What do you mean you know?”_

 

_“I am so sorry, please understand…”_ He was turning paler by seconds.

 

_“What do you mean? What happened?”_ I tried not to panic.

 

_“A day after you left… he came. Thanos came. He brought a woman with him, I think I saw her back at Liesmith´s court. He told everyone on the small council that you are secretly working with Liesmith… that you betrayed us and arranged the murder of Erebos. Our allies demanded that you will be brought to justice, your enemies at the small council even went as far as to claim that the war on our planet was your and Liesmith´s plan all along. Thanos promised to help me fill in your role, so the whole system doesn´t collapse. He has enough influence to keep everything running, but he also made a request which, after a much deliberation, we decided to grant.”_ He continued.

 

I was sure that my heart stopped beating. I thought that I managed to handle Thanos. Of course, I lied about what would happen in an event of my death, but I believed he took the bait and he had no reasons to move against me. Then it hit me. A woman from Loki´s court coming with Thanos. Missing guards in front of my room. Lady Tove. She probably came to settle the score for the necklace but instead, she heard Loki and me talking about the stone. She knew she lost Loki to me, so she did the only sensible thing to do. She sought revenge. With a leverage so powerful, it was probably easy to persuade Thanos to take me down. And Loki was next.

 

_“What request?”_ My brother wasn´t even able to hold an eye contact. _“Look at me!”_

 

Reluctantly, he raised his eyes again. _“He came with a plan. He said it would be easier for the whole empire to smoothly transfer from your hands if it´s not tarnished by your betrayal. So… he advised us that if an accident should befall you, it would be the least painful way how to deal with the situation. For all of us.”_

 

_“You are going to kill me, brother? Really? Instead of fighting for me, your own blood, you chose the easier road where you keep the throne and the illusion of power.”_ I couldn´t believe it. It was a nightmare, I am going to wake up any time now.

 

_“Believe me. I don´t want to do it again. But Thanos is threatening us, your mere existence is threatening us. There is nothing else we could do, but I promise I will take care of your legacy. I also presume the Nihilum is with you. I think it would be for the best if that old relic disappears with you, I still don´t understand why you are so obsessed with it. I am sorry, sister.”_ Although his voice sounded kind of broken, there were no tears in his eyes.

 

_“The truth is you are mostly going to miss my skills not me, right? But you found yourself a replacement… Wait…”_ Something in his speech has caught my attention. _“What do you mean “I don´t want to do it again.”?”_

 

Suddenly he looked as a thief caught red-handed. _“I was young and naïve back then. You were gaining popularity and I feared father will favour you as his successor and I panicked.”_

 

_“So… it was you who arranged his ship to crash. Well, brother, you might not be so witless after all. Your sister is proud.”_ I ended the call before my own emotions betrayed me.

 

I sat in the darkened ship as all the systems including life support crashed. Even the oxygen levels didn´t display anymore, so there was no countdown to my end. Only heart-wrenching silence, dropping temperature and breath-taking view.

 

_I fucking knew that one day it will be my turn, father._

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello dear readers,

I have absolutely no excuse for not updating for so long! I am so sorry! I was so busy, and I kept delaying the update for a nice free day. But it is finally here! And we are entering the next stage of the story :D And we are entering it with a boom! Don´t worry, this is not the end. Also, I try really hard to keep the main character classy (without her cursing too much) but the last sentence just deserved THE word :D. I hope that you will enjoy this twist since I think it will bring up something new in the main character and it would be interesting to explore that.

 

XOXO


	24. The Rock Bottom

A/N This will be an angsty ride like none before. Buckle up.

 

A huff of a warm breath escaped my lips and I could see it forming a small cloud of vapor. The temperature was dropping, and I could feel the cold slowly penetrating my body. Only stars illuminated the darkened cockpit. I felt like I was on a stage and the universe was the only spectator sitting in the auditorium watching my final act. I swallowed with difficulty, fighting off the tears that threatened to escape from the corners of my eyes. _Is this how it_ _all ends?_ I will just fade away into oblivion, like all the souls before me? It should have been different… I was different, I always thought I was different. _Was I wrong all along? It was a lie?_ Then it hit me. Nihilum. I can cry and die as a mortal or I can use the Nihilum and win. _Win the whole fucking game._

The idea of my, otherwise inevitable, passing forced me to finally be ready for the task I believed I was born to do. I knew what to do by heart, it wasn´t easy even in the ideal conditions, but there was no other choice. My mind tried to force all of the disturbing thoughts out as I murmured the spell to summon Nihilum. The words, the spells, the process… it took up all of my concentration. I knew that I can´t afford to mess up, I can´t let my emotions slip, not even for one second. The reality started to fade away slowly, laws of the physics weren´t applicable anymore, I could not feel my body, yet I could feel everything else, the whole universe, everything on the scale from the galaxies to the atoms and beyond, time didn´t matter anymore. My mind wasn´t on the ship anymore, I did and did not exist at the same moment, it was so surreal. _I wish Loki would see me now._

That one stray thought. One little miss-step. One last look I wanted to sneak before it´s too late. That last memory made of green and gold. That broke everything down, like a domino effect, I tried to hold on, but it was lost before I knew it. Suddenly, I was back in the cockpit, panting heavily, the oxygen levels were probably already pretty low. A small cry of anger escaped me. _I_ _failed._ I failed myself, how pathetic. I couldn´t believe it, I was so close, and I messed up. The tears were now flowing freely down my cheeks. I am going to die here, alone and a failure. _He would be so disappointed in me…_

My eyes kept closing on their own as I was now shivering uncontrollably, my previously ragged breath was no shallow. I tried to fight off the darkness with all my might, but I was a failure after all.

 

\---

 

A bright light flickered in front of my closed eyelids and I scrunched my face in displeasure. Then a voice tried to reach me, but I couldn´t make up the words, I was just so tired. One would have thought that there would be a feeling of peace in death, but the noises continued to disturb me. I wanted to get away from them, but my body wouldn´t move. _Maybe…after a nap._

Slowly, I opened my eyes, feeling like a weightlifter fighting against the gravitation. I did not recognize my surroundings. It looked like a small medical bay of a ship. _What happened?_ My brain refused to cooperate. Then a sound made me avert my gaze to the entrance.

 

_“Loki?”_ My voice was just above a whisper, hoarse, as it got stuck in my sore throat.

 

Without a word, he crossed the distance separating us. The look full of worry etched into his features. Still silent, he hugged me.

 

_“How?”_ I managed to get another word pass my chapped lips.

 

He straightened his back and looked at me. _“I knew you would somehow try to go around me. So… I placed a bug on you.”_ With his finger, he gently tapped on the necklace around my neck. _“I wanted to catch up with you, but you were quicker. Then the signal froze on one spot. I knew you must have run into some trouble. What happened?”_

 

I slowly gathered my thoughts to answer his question. _“I went to get the soul stone. But I couldn´t pay the price.”_ I let my voice rest for a minute. _“On my way back, I got a call from my brother. Lady Tove told Thanos about the space stone. Thanos cut a deal with my brother.”_

 

_“He tried to kill you?”_ Loki suddenly sprung up to his feet, anger flashed across his face.

 

_“He told me he killed our father. Perhaps he is the villainous sibling after all. What a plot-twist, don´t you think?”_ One corner of my mouth lifted slightly, but the smile never reached my eyes.

 

_“Why you didn´t use the Nihilum?”_ He asked seriously.

 

I closed my eyes. It felt like a stab to the heart. _“I tried, I couldn´t… I didn´t manage to pull it off.”_ I could feel the tears welling up again. He will be so disappointed, he wouldn´t see me in the same light again…

 

_“I see.”_ He said, but I couldn´t decipher any emotions in his voice.

 

I kept my eyes closed for I couldn´t bear to see the look of disillusion on his face. I felt like the girl he once loved has died on that ship and I was just a powerless imposter.

 

_“You should get some rest.”_ Loki said while moving away.

 

So, I did. Escaping to the dreamless wasteland of my mind.

 

\----

 

Next time I woke up, we were landing somewhere.

 

_“Where are we?”_ I asked Loki as soon as he entered the room. I wasn´t strong enough to stand up yet, but I at least moved to sit up.

 

_“You need to lay low for a time being. Good thing is, everyone thinks you are dead, so they won´t come after you.”_ He handed me some clean clothes, his voice weirdly detached.

_“That wasn´t the answer to my question.”_ I retorted, grabbing the clothes and quickly changing.

 

_“We are on Midgard. My brother and his team of good guys wouldn´t refuse the damsel in distress.”_ He explained.

 

Damsel in distress. That was all I was now. A piece of baggage he will drop on the nearest suitable planet.

 

_“Alright.”_ I hated the fact that he had to support my weight with his body and almost carry me out of the ship. My humiliation was almost boundless now.

 

Outside, we were met by Thor himself and Tony Stark. Both of them were watching us with suspicion.

_“What happened?”_ Thor asked.

 

_“Thanos and her brother tried to kill her. They think they succeeded, so she needs a place to recover. I will explain everything later. Do you have a place where I can take her?”_ Loki spoke first, still emotionless.

 

_“You are asking us to provide a political asylum?”_ Stark raised an eyebrow.

 

_“She is well known across the universe, but no one would ever recognize her here.”_ Loki continued.

 

_“And you are now her spokesman or what?”_ Stark wasn´t even trying to hide his animosity towards us.

 

_“He speaks the truth. Thanos figured out that I wasn´t on his side and he made a deal with my brother. Please.”_ I cast my eyes on the ground.

 

Stark looked from Thor to Loki and then to me and back. _“What is wrong with the aliens’ families?”_

_“Stark, we should help my brother.”_ Thor said quite decisively _. “Get the Lady in the room and Loki can explain the rest.”_

_“Fine… but if this all backfires…”_ Stark finally resigned.

 

They moved me to a nice-looking room and left me alone. I rested a little bit and then slowly made my way to the bathroom. I managed to take a quick shower while sitting on the floor and then wrap myself up in a bathrobe. After that, I went back to the bedroom, holding onto the furniture as I moved. The day turned into night and no sign of anyone coming. So, I picked a bottle from the small mini-fridge in the corner. _Nothing is better than to drown my sorrows._ The alcohol burned my throat and dulled my senses. Suddenly a surge of anger rose in my chest. I threw the half-drunk bottle across the room and it smashed on the wall. The bottle was soon followed by the pillows, flower pot and everything else that I was able to put my hands on. Tears of rage were now streaming down my face, I moved to smash the big mirror on the other side of the room, but my legs gave up. _How dared they took everything from me?_ I lost my power, my domain, my lifelong aspirations, Loki… My hand curled up to a fist as I senselessly bang to the floor. I didn´t even hear the doors open.

 

_“What happened?”_ Loki kneeled beside me, catching my hands mid-air.

 

_“What happened?”_ I laughed. _“What happened?! Shit happened Loki. I lost my empire, I lost my goal, I almost lost my life and I lost you!”_

_“What do you mean you lost me?”_ Loki was dreading this moment. He didn´t know what to expect. In the ship, she couldn´t even look at him. And he knew why. It was his fault she lost everything. If it wasn´t for Tove and the space stone, she would never have ended up like that. He put her in danger. She must blame him for everything. And she will cut him off, like many before did. He thought he was used to disappointing people. But to disappoint her… it made him feel worse than ever before.

_“You loved the strong me, the cheeky me, me with the plan but look at me now. I am mess Loki. A failure. I can´t even look you in the eyes because I am so afraid that all that I once saw reflecting in them will be gone. You are the only one that matters to me. I always thought that I would rather die than to admit that I fell in love with the trickster, to you or to myself so to speak. But now, I am scared to death that you won´t love me back.”_ If it wasn´t for the last 24 hours, I would never utter a single syllable of that confession, but now, nothing was holding me back.

 

Loki was shocked. She didn´t want to leave him, she didn´t even blame him, what´s more, she was scared that he would leave her? She also told him that he mattered the most. During his life, he was always the side-kick, the number two, the other brother…but not for her.

 

_“You are so silly.”_ He pulled me onto his lap and embraced me. _“I love you, only you.”_ He whispered.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello, darlings,

 

first and foremost, I would like to wish all of you Merry Christmas, Amazing Holidays and Happy New year! I decided to write this angst/fluff chapter as I think it was the right time in the story to do so, but don´t worry, the only way from the rock-bottom is up, so expect more badassery in the next chapter. And… REVENGE.

 

As always, leave a comment and let me know how you feel about this chapter.

 

XOXO

 

P.S. If you are bored, check my other works - I just started a new Sirius/Reader story [Astra inclinant, sed non obligant (Sirius Black x Reader)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17189483/chapters/40416848)


	25. Wicked game

A/N I don´t usually do that, but for this chapter especially I have a song recommendation if you like - _Ursine Vulpine ft. Annaca - Wicked Game_. That song always reminds me of this story.

 

* * *

 

 

When I woke up, outside was still dark and Loki was soundly sleeping next to me. For once his features looked absolutely relaxed, no trace of worries creasing his brows. I had to fight the urge to touch his face, but it would be a crime to disturb him from his dreams. So instead I quietly get out of the bed, wrapping a blanket around myself. I moved to the terrace´s door and contemplated for a little while if I should go out. Sky on the east was slowly turning pale as the new day was about to come and snowflakes lazily fell down from the heaven above. Suddenly an inexplicable desire to feel the snow under my feet overwhelmed me as I slipped outside. The air was frosty but at the same time, it gave me an impression of sudden clarity. Everything became crystal clear. All the doubts I had yesterday were gone, the night has taken them away. Loki was on my side, I was alive…and my realm… Well, I would never go down without a fight. And if my brother thinks he has a chance against my wrath, he is going to pay for his mistake dearly. No one, not even Thanos will be able to stop me from taking back what is rightfully mine. Goosebumps prickled across my skin as the snowflakes melted on my cheeks, but I couldn´t care less, a smile played at my lips as I realized that this story, story of my life is far from over.

 

 _“What are you doing outside?”_ A voice interrupted my inner thoughts.

 

I turned only to see Loki leaning against the doorframe. _“I couldn´t sleep anymore. I have a lot to think about.”_

 

He joined me as he pressed my back against his chest and wrapped his arms around my frame. His body was as cold as the surrounding air. _“And?”_

_“When I attempted to use Nihilum, for a split second I managed to taste the boundless possibilities, the immense power that comes with the dominion over the universe and just now I realized that my brother, Thanos, Tove… they should not be able to drive me into the corner. I won´t let them push me aside and win, not without a fight.”_

_“I see. It seems like your old self is back. I would not like to be in their skin right now.”_ Loki said with a smile.

_“But at the same time, I can´t ignore what happened. And most definitely I will own up to anything I told you earlier because I truly meant it. I know that we are complicated, and the game will never stop, but I don´t wish to run away from it anymore. For once I want to be the naïve princess.”_ I turned to face him.

 

I knew Loki still remembered the story about the necklace and the unfortunate love story I told him not so long after he took me to his palace. Right now, it felt like it was lifetimes ago.

 

 _“Are you not afraid that you will end up like the princess in your story?”_ Loki smirked.

 

 _“For what is worth, I think I am smarter than her. And I believe that my partner also won´t fall for some obvious trap. I am the only one who can trick the trickster. But let me be clear, from now on, we move in sync, no hidden agenda, we are in this together.”_ My lips curled into a smirk too.

 

 _“And what guarantee can you give me?”_ Loki asked.

_“A guarantee? As you see, for a moment I am as poor as a beggar. Why do you think I am confessing my feelings all of a sudden? Of course, I want to use you and take your riches away. That´s my only motivation, seduce a king for a profit.”_ I said jokingly since I had no idea what guarantee I could possibly offer him now.

 

 _“If that´s so, wouldn´t it be much more profitable to marry a king instead of simply seducing him? Some of them have a really fleeting nature or so I heard.”_ His tone voice changed to a much more serious one.

 

 _“Loki, what kind of a wicked game you are playing with me?”_ I became confused by the insinuation he just made.

 

 _“No games this time. I mean it. If you want to take your realm back and dominate the universe, do it by my side or more precisely, let me be by your side. I never dreamed that I would meet somebody like you and certainly I did not want to fall in love with you, but there is no point in denying any longer. The guarantee I am asking for is you.”_ He continued.

 

 _“Loki…”_ It wasn´t like me to be at loss for words. _“Yes.”_

 

I dragged his head down for a kiss. For a moment, we just stood there in an embrace.

 

 _“Still, I expected a magnificent ring.”_ I grinned into his chest.

 

He took a step back. _“Of course, we can see what Midgard has to offer… as for now, I can only give you this.”_ With a simple spell, he summoned Nihilum into his hand. He must have taken it when he found my ship.

 

The fact that he willingly returned Nihilum to me was the biggest declaration I could have ever ask for.

 

 _“Thank you.”_ I simply said.

 

 _“For now, let´s go inside. You might soon be married to Jötunheim´s heir, but you clearly are not up for the wheater yet.”_ He chuckled.

 

I followed him inside, still not fully realizing the full extent of our decision. But at the same time, I couldn´t care less about the future now, even if this whole galaxy was about to burn down in flames tomorrow I did not care.

 

* * *

 

A/N

Hello, darlings,

this one is shorter, but damn I hope you have enjoyed this fluff! After all, the galaxy is in a dire need of a wicked power couple! And since the last few chapters were a little bit darker, I decided to lighten up the mood a little bit. Who is up for a badass wedding and revengeful honeymoon? :D.

 

P.S. If you want to read back on the story that was mentioned in this chapter, please see the end of the chapter Check-mate.


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